Osama bin Laden

Bin Laden is the founder of Al Qaeda in 1988 during the to consolidate the international network he established during the Afghan war. Its goals were the advancement of Islamic revolutions throughout the Muslim world and repelling foreign intervention in the Middle East. After the first Gulf War, Al Qaeda shifted its focus to fighting the growing U.S. presence in the Middle East. In 1991 bin Laden moved to Sudan, where he operated until 1996. During that time, Al Qaeda established connections with other terror organizations. Al Qaeda has been involved in several terror attacks. Their most devastating attack on September 11, 2001. When 19 Al Qaeda operatives hijacked four passenger planes and drove two into the Twin Towers in New York City and one into the Pentagon. A fourth plane did not make it and crashed in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attack.