OSAMA BIN MOHAMMED BIN AWAD BIN LADEN,ARABIC:, MARCH 10, 1957 MAY 2, 2011.

AY 2, 2011.HE WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE MILITANT ISLAMIST ORGANIZATION AL-QAEDA, THE JIHADIST ORGANIZATION RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS ON THE UNITED STATES AND NUMEROUS OTHER MASS-CASUALTY ATTACKS AGAINST CIVILIAN AND MILITARY TARGETS. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE WEALTHY SAUDI BIN LADEN FAMILY, AND AN ETHNIC YEMENI KINDITE. BIN LADEN WAS ON THE AMERICAN FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION'S (FBI) LISTS OF TEN MOST WANTED FUGITIVES AND MOST WANTED TERRORISTS FOR HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE 1998 U.S. EMBASSY BOMBINGS.FROM 2001 TO 2011, BIN LADEN WAS A MAJOR TARGET OF THE WAR ON TERROR, WITH A US$25 MILLION BOUNTY BY THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION. AFTER BEING PLACED ON THE FBI'S MOST WANTED LIST, BIN LADEN REMAINED IN HIDING DURING THREE U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATIONS. ON MAY 2, 2011, BIN LADEN WAS SHOT AND KILLED INSIDE A PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL COMPOUND IN ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN, BY U.S. NAVY SEALS AND CIA OPERATIVES IN A COVERT OPERATION ORDERED BY UNITED STATES PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. SHORTLY AFTER HIS DEATH, BIN LADEN'S BODY WAS BURIED AT SEA. AL-QAEDA ACKNOWLEDGED HIS DEATH ON MAY 6, 2011, VOWING TO RETALIATE. EARLY LIFE:OSAMA BIN MOHAMMED BIN AWAD BIN LADEN WAS BORN IN RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA,A SON OF MOHAMMED BIN AWAD BIN LADEN,A BILLIONAIRE CONSTRUCTION MAGNATE WITH CLOSE TIES TO THE SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY,AND MOHAMMED BIN LADEN'S TENTH WIFE, HAMIDA ALATTAS (THEN CALLED ALIA GHANEM). IN A 1998 INTERVIEW, BIN LADEN GAVE HIS BIRTH DATE AS MARCH 10, 1957.MOHAMMED BIN LADEN DIVORCED HAMIDA SOON AFTER OSAMA BIN LADEN WAS BORN. MOHAMMED RECOMMENDED HAMIDA TO MOHAMMED AL-ATTAS, AN ASSOCIATE. ALATTAS MARRIED HAMIDA IN THE LATE 1950S OR EARLY 1960S, AND THEY ARE STILL TOGETHER.THE COUPLE HAD FOUR CHILDREN, AND BIN LADEN LIVED IN THE NEW HOUSEHOLD WITH THREE HALFBROTHERS AND ONE HALF-SISTER.THE BIN LADEN FAMILY MADE $5 BILLION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY, OF WHICH OSAMA LATER INHERITED AROUND $2530 MILLION. PERSONAL LIFE:IN 1974, AT THE AGE OF 17, BIN LADEN MARRIED NAJWA GHANEM AT LATAKIA, SYRIA;THEY WERE DIVORCED BEFORE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. BIN LADEN'S OTHER KNOWN WIVES WERE KHADIJAH SHARIF (MARRIED 1983, DIVORCED 1990S), KHAIRIAH SABAR (MARRIED 1985), SIHAM SABAR (MARRIED 1987), AND AMAL AL-SADAH (MARRIED 2000). SOME SOURCES ALSO LIST A SIXTH WIFE, NAME UNKNOWN, WHOSE MARRIAGE TO BIN LADEN WAS ANNULLED SOON AFTER THE CEREMONY.BIN LADEN FATHERED BETWEEN 20 AND 26 CHILDREN WITH HIS WIVES.MANY OF BIN LADEN'S CHILDREN FLED TO IRAN FOLLOWING THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS AND AS OF 2010 IRANIAN AUTHORITIES REPORTEDLY CONTINUE TO CONTROL THEIR MOVEMENT.BIN LADEN'S FATHER MOHAMMED DIED IN 1967 IN AN AIRPLANE CRASH IN SAUDI ARABIA WHEN HIS AMERICAN PILOT MISJUDGED A LANDING.BIN LADEN'S ELDEST HALF-BROTHER, SALEM BIN LADEN, THE SUBSEQUENT HEAD OF THE BIN LADEN FAMILY, WAS KILLED IN 1988 NEAR SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, IN THE UNITED STATES, WHEN HE ACCIDENTALLY FLEW A PLANE INTO POWER LINES.THE FBI DESCRIBED BIN LADEN AS AN ADULT AS TALL AND THIN, BETWEEN 6 FT 4 IN AND 6 FT 6 IN (193 198 CM) IN HEIGHT AND WEIGHING ABOUT 165 POUNDS (75 KG). BIN LADEN HAD AN OLIVE

COMPLEXION AND WAS LEFT-HANDED, USUALLY WALKING WITH A CANE. HE WORE A PLAIN WHITE TURBAN AND HE HAD STOPPED WEARING THE TRADITIONAL SAUDI MALE HEADDRESS.BIN LADEN WAS DESCRIBED AS SOFT-SPOKEN AND MILD-MANNERED IN DEMEANOR. BELIEFS:ACCORDING TO FORMER CIA ANALYST MICHAEL SCHEUER, WHO LED THE CIA'S HUNT FOR OSAMA BIN LADEN, THE AL-QAEDA LEADER WAS MOTIVATED BY A BELIEF THAT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY HAS OPPRESSED, KILLED, OR OTHERWISE HARMED MUSLIMS IN THE MIDDLE EAST,CONDENSED IN THE PHRASE "THEY HATE US FOR WHAT WE DO, NOT WHO WE ARE." SEPTEMBER 11,2001 ATTACKS:THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS (ALSO REFERRED TO AS SEPTEMBER 11, SEPTEMBER 11TH OR 9/11 WERE A SERIES OF FOUR COORDINATED SUICIDE ATTACKS UPON THE UNITED STATES IN NEW YORK CITY AND THE WASHINGTON, D.C. AREAS ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. ON THAT TUESDAY MORNING, 19 TERRORISTS FROM THE ISLAMIST MILITANT GROUP AL-QAEDA HIJACKED FOUR PASSENGER JETS. THE HIJACKERS INTENTIONALLY CRASHED TWO PLANES, AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 11 AND UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 175 INTO THE TWIN TOWERS OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IN NEW YORK CITY; BOTH TOWERS COLLAPSED WITHIN TWO HOURS. HIJACKERS CRASHED AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 77 INTO THE PENTAGON IN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA. THE FOURTH JET, UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 93, CRASHED INTO A FIELD NEAR SHANKSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA AFTER PASSENGERS ATTEMPTED TO TAKE CONTROL BEFORE IT COULD REACH THE HIJACKER'S INTENDED TARGET IN WASHINGTON, D.C. NEARLY 3,000 DIED IN THE ATTACKS.SUSPICION QUICKLY FELL ON AL-QAEDA, AND IN 2004, THE GROUP'S LEADER OSAMA BIN LADEN, WHO HAD INITIALLY DENIED INVOLVEMENT, CLAIMEDRESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ATTACKS.AL-QAEDA AND BIN LADEN CITED U.S. SUPPORT OF ISRAEL, THE PRESENCE OF U.S. TROOPS IN SAUDI ARABIA, ANDSANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ AS MOTIVES FOR THE ATTACKS. THE UNITED STATES RESPONDED TO THE ATTACKS BY LAUNCHING THE WAR ON TERROR ANDINVADING AFGHANISTAN TO DEPOSE THE TALIBAN, WHICH HAD HARBORED AL-QAEDA. MANY COUNTRIES STRENGTHENED THEIR ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION AND EXPANDED LAW ENFORCEMENT POWERS. IN MAY 2011, AFTER YEARS AT LARGE, BIN LADEN WAS FOUND AND KILLED.THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TWIN TOWERS CAUSED SERIOUS DAMAGE TO THE ECONOMY OF LOWER MANHATTAN AND HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON GLOBAL MARKETS. CLEANUP OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE WAS COMPLETED IN MAY 2002, AND THE PENTAGON WAS REPAIRED WITHIN A YEAR. NUMEROUS MEMORIALS WERE CONSTRUCTED, INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM IN NEW YORK, THE PENTAGON MEMORIAL, AND THE FLIGHT 93 NATIONAL MEMORIAL IN PENNSYLVANIA. ADJACENT TO THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL, THE 1,776 FEET (541 M) ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED IN 2013. WHEREABOUTS JUST PRIOR TO HIS DEATH:IN APRIL 2011, VARIOUS INTELLIGENCE OUTLETS WERE ABLE TO PINPOINT BIN LADEN'S SUSPECTED LOCATION NEAR ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN. IT WAS ORIGINALLY BELIEVED THAT BIN LADEN WAS HIDING NEAR THE BORDER BETWEEN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN'S FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS, BUT HE WAS FOUND 100 MILES (160 KM) AWAY IN A THREE-STORY MANSION IN ABBOTTABAD.BIN LADEN'S MANSION WAS LOCATED 0.8 MILES (1.3 KM) SOUTHWEST OF THE PAKISTAN MILITARY ACADEMY, THE

COUNTRY'S "WEST POINT".GOOGLE EARTH MAPS SHOW THAT THE COMPOUND WAS NOT PRESENT IN 2001, BUT WAS PRESENT ON IMAGES TAKEN IN 2005. DEATH:OSAMA BIN LADEN WAS KILLED IN PAKISTAN ON MAY 2, 2011, SHORTLY AFTER 1 A.M. LOCAL TIME BY A UNITED STATES SPECIAL FORCES MILITARY UNIT. THE OPERATION, CODE-NAMED OPERATION NEPTUNE SPEAR, WAS ORDERED BY UNITED STATES PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AND CARRIED OUT IN A U.S. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA) OPERATION BY A TEAM OF UNITED STATES NAVY SEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE DEVELOPMENT GROUP (ALSO KNOWN AS DEVGRU OR INFORMALLY BY ITS FORMER NAME, SEAL TEAM SIX) OF THE JOINT SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND, WITH SUPPORT FROM CIA OPERATIVES ON THE GROUND.THE RAID ON BIN LADEN'S COMPOUND IN ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN WAS LAUNCHED FROM AFGHANISTAN.AFTER THE RAID, U.S. FORCES TOOK BIN LADEN'S BODY TO AFGHANISTAN FOR IDENTIFICATION, THEN BURIED IT AT SEA WITHIN 24 HOURS OF HIS DEATH.