As the anniversary of the May 2, 2011,
death of Osama bin Laden approaches, here are few facts about once most
wanted man of the earth.
- Osama bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In a 1998 interview, he gave his birth date as March 10, 1957.
- The CIA, together with the British Special Air Service, trained 100,000 mujaheddin to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan from 1980-1989, as well as providing weaponry to do so. Osama bin Laden therefore received training and weapons from the U.S. and British governments. Bin Laden supported the mujahideen at the behest of Saudi Arabian royalty.
- One of Osama’s brothers, Salem bin Laden, stated in 1985 that Osama was serving as a liaison between the US government, the Saudis, and the mujahideen.
- Bin Laden traveled back and forth to London many times in the early nineties, and in fact was interviewed in 1996 in London.
- In 1994, the Advice and Reform Committee (ARC), based in London, set up a secure communications system for bin Laden to contact London from Saudi Arabia. The phone calls are all routed through Denver, Colorado, using military lines abandoned after being used during the first Gulf war.
- In 1993, 18 US soldiers were killed in Somalia (the famous Black Hawk Down incident). Bin Laden is implicated by the US for training some of the individuals involved.
- The Taliban actually put bin Laden on trial in 1998, and formally request evidence from the United States in order to continue with the trial. When the US fails to respond, he is released.
- After the 9/11 attack he became the most wanted person of the world.
- The Taliban refused to extradite Osama Bin Laden. It wasn’t until after the bombing of Afghanistan began in October 2001 that the Taliban finally did offer to turn over Osama bin Laden to a third-party country for trial, in return for the US ending the bombing and providing evidence that Osama bin Laden was involved in the 9/11 attacks. This offer was rejected by George W Bush stating that this was no longer negotiable with Bush responding that “There’s no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he’s guilty.”
- On May 1, 2011, American soldiers killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at his compound near Islamabad, Pakistan. Intelligence officials believe bin Laden was responsible for many deadly acts of terrorism, including the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. He had been on the FBI’s “most wanted” list for more than a decade.
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