Bin Laden, Osama

Bin Laden, Osama ( Bin Ladin, Mujahid Usamah) (b. 1957). Most Wanted Terrorist Raised in Medina and Hejaz, he was the nephew of one of Saudia Arabia's wealthiest business men. He went to Afghanistan in 1979, to assist fellow Muslims in a ‘holy’ struggle (jihad) against the Soviet occupying forces. In addition, Bin Laden became effective at raising money for the Afghan cause. He became head of the al-Qaeda organization in 1988, and was believed to be responsible for the killing of eighteen US servicemen during the US action in Somalia. As he became increasingly hostile to the Saudi monarchy, which he considered beholden to the USA, his Saudi Arabian citizenship was withdrawn in 1991. Bin Laden turned his wrath against his former allies, the USA, in the belief that a jihad should be declared against the Judaeo-Christian values it epitomized. For his cause, he was believed to have amassed a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars. This, and the willingness of his followers to die in the jihad, made him such a potent foe of the US and of Western civilization. Video evidence captured his admittance of responsibility for the September 11 attacks, which sparked the US War on Terrorism. It also turned the US security apparatus against him, though his whereabouts remained elusive.