Osama bin Laden

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Usāmah bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Lādin (Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن; born March 10, 1957 [1]), better known as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden (أسامة بن لادن) is an Islamic fundamentalist. He is a member of the very rich bin Laden family. He is also a founder of the al-Qaeda terrorist group.

Most people see him as the person who did all the planning for the 9/11 attack on the United States. The terror network which he helped create (al-Qaeda) is considered to be among the deadliest in the world. Quite a few people call him a terrorist.

In the fall of 2003, he went to Pakistan to meet Abu Hafiza and Ayman al-Zawahiri to talk about Al Qaeda's 2004 plans.

[change] Names

Osama bin Laden's name can be transliterated in several ways. The form used here, Osama bin Laden, is used by most English-language mass media. This includes CNN and the BBC. The FBI and Fox News use Usama bin Laden. Often the name is abbreviated to UBL . This is favored by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Less common abbreviations include Ussamah Bin Ladin and Oussama Ben Laden, which are used in French-language mass media. The latter part of the name can also be found as Binladen or Binladin. People at the United States Department of Defense prefer the use of the now more common "Osama" transliteration. This is especially the case when his name is associated with the September 11th attacks. They say this is done to avoid confusion with U.S.A.M.A., the United States Army Medical Association.

Under the Arabic naming rules, it is incorrect to use "bin Laden" as a Western surname. His full name means "Osama, son of Mohammed, son of `Awad, son of Laden". However, the Bin Laden family (or "Binladin," as they like to be called) usually use the name as a surname in the Western style. The family company is known as the Binladin Brothers for Contracting and Industry. It is one of the largest corporations in Saudi Arabia. In the Western world, almost everyone uses "bin Laden" as Osama's surname because this is what his family uses as their surname.

Bin Laden has many aliases and nicknames, such as the Prince, the Emir, Abu Abdallah, Mujahid Shayekh, Hajj, and the Director.