Osama bin Laden

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 immensely rich bin Laden family. He is also a founder of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

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.

[edit] 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.

Strictly speaking, under the Arabic naming convention, 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 prefer to be known) generally 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. The Arabic convention would be to refer to him either as "Osama" or "Osama bin Laden". Using "bin Laden" is in accordance with the family's own usage of the name and is the near-universal norm in Western references to him.

Bin Laden has several aliases and nicknames, including the Prince, the Emir, Abu Abdallah, Mujahid Shayekh, Hajj, and the Director and also "the Leader of Al-Qaeda organization"

Osama bin Laden finished second place in an unofficial online poll that Time Magazine. This was done alongside its 2001 Person of the Year award.

[edit] External links

• Osama Bin Laden Video