Al-Qaeda Appreciation Society of North America

Osama bin Mohammed bin Ladin was born in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in early 1957. Raised by a wealthy family and educated in the traditional means of the Saudis, bin Ladin made his fortune working with the family construction business (a Fortune 500 firm who has previously partnered with, among others, the Bush family) and when war broke out in Afghanistan, a 22-year-old bin Ladin left his family and went to fight with the mujahedeen.

Since the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, bin Ladin has remained active in pro-Muslim political causes around the world. His name emerged in connection with terrorist attacks in Riyadh (November 95) and Dhahran (June 96), which left 30 people dead, including 24 Americans. He is also implicated in the attacks on a Yeminite hotel (December 92) that injured several tourists; the assassination attempt on Egyptian president Mubarak in Ethiopia (June 95); the World Trade Center bombing (February 93) that killed 3 and injured hundreds; and the Somali attack on American forces that left hundreds wounded and humiliated the United States with images of the corpses of American commandos being dragged through the streets of Somalia's capital.