Worldwide Terrorism & Crime Against Humanity Index
Usama Bin Laden
$25 Million Dollar Reward
Wanted Dead or Alive!
Usama Bin Laden dishonoring the Muslim Faith
Usama Bin Laden: Has called for a holy war against the US. Bin Laden is both one of the CIA's most wanted men and considered a hero to many young people in the Arab world. His name around the world is known as a sponsor of international murder.
He and his associates were already being sought by the US on charges of international terrorism, including in connection with the 1998 bombing of American embassies in Africa and last year's attack on the USS Cole in Yemen.
In May this year a US jury convicted four men believed to be linked with Bin Laden of plotting the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Bin Laden, an immensely wealthy and private man, has been granted a safe haven by Afghanistan's ruling Taleban movement.
During his time in hiding, he has called for a holy war against the US, and for the killing of Americans and Jews. He is reported to be able to rally around him up to 3,000 fighters.
He is also suspected of helping to set up Islamic training centres to prepare soldiers to fight in Chechnya and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
Sponsored by US and Pakistan
His power is founded on a personal fortune earned by his family's construction business in Saudi Arabia.
Born in Saudi Arabia to a Yemeni family, Bin Laden left Saudi Arabia in 1979 to fight against the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The Afghan jihad was backed with American dollars and had the blessing of the governments of
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
He received security training from the CIA itself, according to Middle Eastern analyst Hazhir
Teimourian
.
While in Afghanistan, he founded the Maktab al-Khidimat (MAK), which recruited fighters from
around the world and imported equipment to aid the Afghan resistance against the Soviet army.
Egyptians, Lebanese, Turks and others - numbering thousands in Bin Laden's estimate - joined their Afghan Muslim brothers in the struggle against an ideology that spurned religion.
Turned against the US
After the Soviet withdrawal, the "Arab Afghans", as Bin Laden's faction came to be called, turned
their fire against the US and its allies in the Middle East.
Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia to work in the family construction business, but was expelled in 1991 because of his anti-government activities there.
He spent the next five years in Sudan until US pressure prompted the Sudanese Government to
expel him, whereupon Bin Laden returned to Afghanistan.
Terrorism experts say Bin Laden has been using his millions to fund attacks against the US.
The US State Department calls him "one of the most significant sponsors of Islamic extremist
activities in the world today".
According to the US, Bin Laden was involved in at least three major attacks - the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1996 killing of 19 US soldiers in Saudi Arabia, and the 1998 bombings in Kenya
and Tanzania.
Islamic front
BBC correspondent James Robbins says Bin Laden had "all but admitted involvement" in the Saudi Arabia killings.
Some experts say he is part of an international Islamic front, bringing together Saudi, Egyptian
and other groups.
Their rallying cry is the liberation of Islam's three holiest places - Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.
Analysts say Bin Laden's organisation is very different from the groups that carried out
bombings and hijackings in the past in that it is not a tightly knit group with a clear command
structure but a loose coalition of groups operating across continents.
American officials believe Bin Laden's associates may operate in over forty countries - in Europe
and North America, as well as in the Middle East and Asia.
The few outsiders who have met Bin Laden describe him as modest, almost shy. He rarely gives interviews.
He is believed to be in his 40s, and to have at least three wives.
# # #
Source: BBC News
MURDER OF U.S. NATIONALS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; CONSPIRACY TO MURDER U.S. NATIONALS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES;
ATTACK ON A FEDERAL FACILITY
RESULTING IN DEATH
USAMA BIN LADEN
 Date of Photograph Unknown
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Aliases: Usama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin, Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin,
the Prince, the Emir, Abu Abdallah, Mujahid Shaykh, Hajj, the Director
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DESCRIPTION
Date of Birth:
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1957
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Hair:
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Brown
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Place of Birth:
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Saudi Arabia
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Eyes:
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Brown
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Height:
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6' 4" to 6' 6"
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Complexion:
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Olive
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Weight:
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Approximately 160 pounds
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Sex:
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Male
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Build:
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Thin
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Nationality:
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Saudi
Arabian
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Occupation:
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Unknown
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Remarks:
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Bin Laden is the leader of a terrorist organization known
as Al-Qaeda, "The Base". He is left-handed and walks
with a cane.
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Scars and Marks:
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None
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CAUTION
USAMA BIN LADEN IS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE AUGUST 7, 1998, BOMBINGS OF THE UNITED STATES EMBASSIES IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, AND NAIROBI, KENYA. THESE ATTACKS KILLED OVER 200 PEOPLE. IN ADDITION, BIN LADEN IS A SUSPECT IN OTHER TERRORIST ATTACKS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON,
PLE
ASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST
U.S. EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.
REWARD
The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden. An additional $2 million is being offered through a program developed and funded by the Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association.
June 1999
Poster Revised October 2001