Bin Laden family
Encyclopedia
House of Saud
The House of Saud , also called the Al Saud, is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia and one of the wealthiest and most powerful dynasties in the world. The family holds thousands of members...
. The family was thrown into media spotlight through the activities of one of its members, Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. The financial interests of the bin Laden family are represented by the Saudi Binladin Group, a global oil and equity management
Investment management
Investment management is the professional management of various securities and assets in order to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of the investors...
conglomerate grossing $5 billion US annually, and one of the largest construction firms in the Islamic world, with offices in London and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
The family traces its origins to a Hadhrami named Awad bin Laden, a Kindah
Kindah
The kingdom of Kindah was a vassal kingdom which ruled from Qaryah dhat Kahl in Nejd, Central Arabia . The kingdom controlled much of the northern Arabian peninsula in the 4th and 5th centuries AD.-Origin:...
tribesman from the village of Al Rubat, in the Wadi Doan in the Tarim
Tarim, Yemen
Tarim is a historic town situated in the Hadhramaut Valley of South Yemen, South Arabia. Tarim is widely acknowledged as the theological, juridical, and academic center of the Hadhramaut Valley. An important locus of Islamic learning, it is estimated to contain the highest concentration of...
Valley, Hadramout governorate
Hadhramaut Governorate
Hadhramaut or Hadramawt is a governorate of Yemen. Lying within the large historical region of Hadhramaut, it is the country's largest governorate.-Overview:...
, Yemen. He died in 1919. His son was Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (died 1967). Mohammed bin Laden was a native of the Shafi`i (Sunni) Hadhramaut
Hadhramaut
Hadhramaut, Hadhramout, Hadramawt or Ḥaḍramūt is the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate encompassing a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman...
coast in southern Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
and emigrated to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He set up a construction company and came to Abdul Aziz ibn Saud's
Saud of Saudi Arabia
Saud bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia from 1953 to 1964. He was removed from power by Faisal because of Saud's mismanagement and waste. He was the eldest surviving son of Ibn Saud and became Crown Prince in 1933. He died in exile in Greece.-Early life:Saud was born in 1902 in Kuwait...
attention through construction projects, later being awarded contracts for major renovations at Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, where he made his initial fortune from exclusive rights to all mosque and other religious building construction not only in Saudi Arabia, but as far as Ibn Saud's
Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia
King Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia was the first monarch of the Third Saudi State known as Saudi Arabia. He was commonly referred to as Ibn Saud....
influence reached. Until his death, Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden had exclusive control over restorations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem...
in Jerusalem. Soon the bin Laden corporate network extended far beyond construction sites.
Mohammed's special intimacy with the monarchy was inherited by the younger bin Laden generation. Mohammed's sons attended Victoria College, Alexandria
Victoria College, Alexandria
Victoria College, Alexandria, was founded in 1902 under the impetus of the recently ennobled Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer of the Barings Bank, that was heavily invested in Egyptian stability. For years the British Consul-General was ex officio on the board of Victoria College...
, Egypt. Their schoolmates included King Hussein of Jordan
Hussein of Jordan
Hussein bin Talal was the third King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein's rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict...
, Zaid Al Rifai, the Kashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi is a Saudi Arabian arms-dealer and businessman. He is also noted for his engagements with high society in both the Occident and Arabic-speaking worlds, and for his involvement in the Iran–Contra and Lockheed bribery scandals, and numerous other affairs...
brothers (whose father was one of the king's physicians), Kamal Adham
Kamal Adham
Kamal Adham was a former Director General of Saudi Arabia's Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah, General Intelligence Directorate. He was the younger half-brother of Princess Iffat Al-Thuniyyan Al Saud.-Childhood training:...
(who ran the General Intelligence Directorate
Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah
The Ri'āsat Al-Istikhbārāt Al-'Āmah , or the General Intelligence Presidency , is the primary intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.- History :...
under King Faisal
Faisal of Saudi Arabia
Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975. As king, he is credited with rescuing the country's finances and implementing a policy of modernization and reform, while his main foreign policy themes were pan-Islamic Nationalism, anti-Communism, and pro-Palestinian...
), present-day contractors Mohammed Al Attas, Fahd Shobokshi and Ghassan Sakr and actor Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
.
When Mohammed bin Laden died in 1967, his son Salem bin Laden
Salem bin Laden
Salem bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian investor and businessman.-Life:Considered the eldest son of Mohammed bin Laden, the founder of Saudi Binladin Group and a half-brother and cousin of the infamous terrorist...
took over the family enterprises, until his own accidental death in 1988. Salem was one of at least 54 children by various wives.
Bin Ladens and King Fahd
The two closest friends of King FahdFahd of Saudi Arabia
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, was King of Saudi Arabia from 1982 to 2005...
were Prince Mohammed bin Abdullah (son of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud's youngest brother) who died in the early 1980s and Salem bin Laden
Salem bin Laden
Salem bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian investor and businessman.-Life:Considered the eldest son of Mohammed bin Laden, the founder of Saudi Binladin Group and a half-brother and cousin of the infamous terrorist...
who died in 1988, when an ultralight aircraft that he was flying flew into powerlines in San Antonio, Texas.
Family members
American and European intelligence officials estimate that all the relatives of the family may number as many as 600. In 1994, the bin Laden family disowned Osama and the Saudi government revoked his passport. The Saudi government also stripped Osama bin Laden of his citizenshipCitizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
, for publicly speaking out against them, after they permitted U.S. troops to be based in Saudi Arabia in preparation for the 1991 Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
.
The groupings of the family, based on the nationalities of the wives, include the most prominent "Saudi
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
group", a "Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n group", a "Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
group," and an "Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian group". The Egyptian group employs 40,000 people as that country's largest private foreign investor. Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
was born the only son of Muhammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas
Hamida al-Attas
Hamida al-Attas , born Alia Ghanem , is the mother of Osama bin Laden. She came from a Sunni Syrian family of two brothers and another sister, although it has been rumoured that her family are Alawites. She married Mohammed bin Laden in Latakia in 1956 and moved to Saudi Arabia with her husband....
, who was of Syrian origin, making Osama a member of the Syrian group.
First generation
- Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (born c. 1908 in HadhramautHadhramautHadhramaut, Hadhramout, Hadramawt or Ḥaḍramūt is the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate encompassing a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman...
) the family patriarch; before World War I, Mohammed, originally poor and uneducated, emigrated from HadhramautHadhramautHadhramaut, Hadhramout, Hadramawt or Ḥaḍramūt is the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate encompassing a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman...
, on the south coast of Yemen, to the Red SeaRed SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he began to work as a porter. Starting his own business in 1930, Muhammed built his fortune as a building contractor for the Saudi royal family during the 1950s. Married 22 times, with 54 children; Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
was born as the 17th child. Alia Ghanem (born in Syria) Muhammed's 10th wife, and mother of Osama; divorced soon after Osama was born, and remarried Osama's stepfather c. 1958. In 1967 Mohammed was killed in an airplane crash in Saudi Arabia when his pilot misjudged a landing. - Muhammad al-Attas Osama's stepfather, in whose household Osama was raised at Jeddah; worked at the bin Laden company. The couple had five children, Osama's three half-brothers and one half-sister Fatima Mohammed al-Attas.
- Abdallah bin Laden, uncle of OBL; headed SBG, died in Medina, March 21, 2002, at age 75. he also had over 60 children and was married 6 times.
Second generation
- Salem bin LadenSalem bin LadenSalem bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian investor and businessman.-Life:Considered the eldest son of Mohammed bin Laden, the founder of Saudi Binladin Group and a half-brother and cousin of the infamous terrorist...
(born 1946) attended MillfieldMillfieldMillfield is an independent school in Street in Somerset, in south-west England.The school currently has a roll of 1,260 pupils, of whom 910 are boarders...
, the English boarding school; took over the family empire in 1967; an amateur rock guitarist in the 1970s; married an English art student, Caroline Carey, whose half brother Ambrose Douglas is the illegitimate eldest son of the Marquess of QueensberryMarquess of QueensberryMarquess of Queensberry is a title in the peerage of Scotland. The title has been held since its creation in 1682 by a member of the Douglas family...
in Scotland; was killed outside San Antonio, Texas in 1988, when an experimental ultralight plane that he was flying got tangled in power lines. - Tarek bin LadenTarek bin LadenTarek bin Mohammed bin 'Awad bin Laden, is a half-brother of Osama bin Laden, and a noted member of the Saudi-Arabia business community....
, b. 1947; once called "the personification of the dichotomy (conservatism and change) of Saudi Arabia." - Bakr bin LadenBakr bin LadenBakr bin Laden, brother of Osama bin Laden, is the chairman of the Jeddah-based Saudi Binladin Group and the largest majority shareholder in the Group, with a 23.58% holding....
, succeeded Salem as chairman of the Saudi Binladin Group; major power broker in JeddahJeddahJeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
. - Hassan bin Laden, senior vice president of the SBG.
- Yehia bin Laden, also active in the SBG; in 2001 owned 16 percent of Cambridge, MA-based Hybridon, IncHybridon, IncHybridon, Inc was a biotechnology company based in Cambridge, MA, specializing in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics and diagnostics using synthetic DNA, that merged with Idera Pharmaceuticals in 2004.- Notable investors :...
. - Mahrous bin Laden was implicated in the Grand Mosque SeizureGrand Mosque SeizureThe Grand Mosque Seizure on November 20, 1979, was an armed attack and takeover by Islamist dissidents of the Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest place in Islam...
, carried out by dissidents against the Saudi ruling family at the Masjid al-HaramMasjid al-HaramAl-Masjid al-Ḥarām is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while performing daily prayers and is Islam's holiest place...
in MeccaMeccaMecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, on November 20, 1979. This event shook the Muslim world with the ensuing violence and killing of hundreds at the holiest of Islamic sites. Trucks owned by the family were reported to have been used to smuggle arms into the tightly controlled city. The bin Laden connection was through the son of a Sultan of Yemen who had been radicalized by Syrian members of the Muslim BrotherhoodMuslim BrotherhoodThe Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
. Mahrous was actually arrested for a time, but in the Saudi government response, he was not beheaded along with 63 others who were, their public executions broadcast on live Saudi television. Later exonerated, he joined the family business, and became manager of the MedinaMedinaMedina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
branch of the bin Laden enterprises, and a member of the board. - Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
(born 1957 in Saudi Arabia, diedDeath of Osama bin LadenOsama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
May 2, 2011 in Pakistan) has claimed to have masterminded the September 11 attacks against the United States. Announced dead on May 2, 2011. He was one of the FBI Most Wanted TerroristsFBI Most Wanted TerroristsThe Federal Bureau of Investigation's Most Wanted Terrorists is a list of fugitives who have been indicted by sitting Federal grand juries in the United States district courts, for alleged crimes of terrorism. The initial list was formed in late 2001 in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks...
. - Najwa GhanemNajwa GhanemNajwa bin Laden , née Ghanem, is a Syrian woman who was the first wife and first cousin of Osama bin Laden. Her father is the brother of Osama's mother, Hamida al-Attas . Najwa was "promised" in marriage to Osama. She is the mother of Saad bin Laden, as well as at least 10 more children...
(born c. 1960 in Syria) Osama's first wife, married 1974; a first cousin, and his mother's niece. She co-authored Growing Up bin Laden with her son Omar. - (Shaikha) Mohammed bin Laden (born c. 1960), half-sister of Osama, married Mohammed Jamal KhalifaMohammed Jamal KhalifaMohammed Jamal Khalifa was a Saudi Arabian businessman from Jeddah who married one of Osama bin Laden's sisters.-Overview:The first glimpse U.S...
. He was the founder of Benevolence International FoundationBenevolence International FoundationThe Benevolence International Foundation was a purported nonprofit charitable trust based in Saudi Arabia. It was a front for al-Qaeda and is now banned worldwide by the United Nations Security Council Committee 1267...
, in the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in 1988. During this period, Khalifa is believed to have received large donations of cash from outside the country, some of which, intelligence officials suspect, may have been funnelled to him by Al Qaeda. He also ran the International Relations and Information Centre, by which embezzled money was funneled to Ramzi YousefRamzi YousefRamzi Yousef was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a co-conspirator in the Bojinka plot. In 1995, he was arrested at a guest house in Islamabad, by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and United States Diplomatic Security Service, then extradited to the...
. In 1993, his business cards were found in the Jersey CityJersey City, New JerseyJersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
, New Jersey apartment that Yousef stayed in while he was involved with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing1993 World Trade Center bombingThe 1993 World Trade Center bombing occurred on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb was detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,336 lb urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to knock the North Tower into the South Tower , bringing...
plot. Khalifa was first arrested on December 14, 1994 in Mountain ViewMountain View, California-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, California, placed in solitary confinement and the contents of his luggage were logged and edited. In 1995 Khalifa was arrested in San Francisco on charges of violating United States immigration laws. He was detained while the Justice Department tried but failed to gather enough information to charge him in connection with suspected terrorist activities. Eventually, he was deported on May 5, 1995 to JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, which had an outstanding warrant for him on charges stemming from the bombing of movie theatres in AmmanAmmanAmman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
in 1994, for which he had been under a possible death sentence, convicted in absentia. His conviction was later overturned, in a new trial during which he was acquitted. In 1996, Khalifa returned to Saudi Arabia, where he was again arrested after 9/11, but later released. He still lives in Saudi Arabia, where after 9/11 he publicly condemned Osama Bin Laden. Mohammed Jamal KhalifaMohammed Jamal KhalifaMohammed Jamal Khalifa was a Saudi Arabian businessman from Jeddah who married one of Osama bin Laden's sisters.-Overview:The first glimpse U.S...
was assassinated in 2007 in Madagascar. - Yeslam bin LadinYeslam bin LadinYeslam bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Ladin better known as Yeslam bin Laden, also written Yeslam Binladin, as he prefers to spell it, is a Swiss businessman and the half-brother of the deceased al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden....
studied in the 1970s at the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, in Los Angeles; settled in SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
; became a Swiss citizen c. 2001; GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
-based head of the family's European holding company, the Saudi Investment CompanySaudi Investment CompanyThe Saudi Investment Company , headquartered Geneva, Switzerland and founded on May 19, 1980, represents the worldwide interests of the Saudi Binladin Group.- Overview :...
; was scrutinized by Swiss and American investigators because of a financial stake he has in a Swiss aviation firm; he has claimed to not have had contact with Osama since c. 1981 - Abdullah bin Laden (born c. 1965); graduate of Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
; lived in CambridgeCambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts on 9/11, the only relative to remain in the United States, staying in Boston for almost a month. - Shafig bin LadenShafig bin LadenAn investor, Shafig bin Laden is a half-brother to Osama bin Laden, and was in attendance at the Carlyle Group's Washington, DC conference at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on September 11, 2001, which George H. W. Bush also attended.-References:...
, half-brother of Osama's, was a guest of honour at the Carlyle GroupCarlyle GroupThe Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary...
's Washington conference at the Ritz-Carlton HotelRitz-CarltonThe Ritz-Carlton is a brand of luxury hotels and resorts with 75 properties located in major cities and resorts in 24 countries worldwide...
on September 11, 2001, and among the 13 members of the bin Ladin family to leave the United States on September 19, 2001 aboard N521DB. - Omar Mohammed Awad bin Laden
Third generation
- Wafah DufourWafah DufourWafah Dufour , born in Los Angeles, California, is an American singer-songwriter, socialite, and model .Her father, Yeslam bin Ladin , is Saudi Arabian and her mother, Carmen bin Ladin, is of Swiss father and Iranian mother from a noble family Wafah Dufour (née Wafah Bin Laden), born in Los...
bin Laden (born Wafah bin Ladin on May 23, 1979 in Los Angeles, California) is an American model and aspiring singer-songwriter. She spent the early part of her life in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dufour, her little sisters Najia (1979) and Noor (1987), her mother (1954) and her father (born on October 19, 1950) then moved to Geneva, Switzerland. In 1988, her parents separated. She earned a law diploma at Geneva Law School (Switzerland) and later a master's degree from Columbia Law School in the United States. She lived in Manhattan until around the time of the September 11, 2001, attacks, but was staying in Geneva for summer holiday at the time of the attacks. She currently lives in New York City and is working on her first album. - Abdulla Osama bin Laden (born c. 1976), son of Osama and Najwa. He is reportedly residing in Saudi Arabia, and is watched over closely by the Saudi government since 1996. Abdallah runs his own firm, called Fame Advertising, in Jeddah; he is closely watched by the Saudi government, which has restricted his travel from the kingdom since 1996; reportedly, he has never disowned his father.
- Saad bin LadenSaad bin LadenSa'ad bin Osama bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Laden , better known as Saad bin Laden, is one of the sons of Osama bin Laden. He continued in his father's footsteps by occupying a position within Al-Qaeda...
; (born 1979) son of Osama and Najwa; Saad accompanied Osama on his exile to Sudan from 1991–1996, and then to Afghanistan after that. He is believed to be married to a woman from Yemen. Saad reportedly arrived in IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
in 2002, from AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
with a fake Iranian Passport using the name Saad Mahmoudian, the Customs officer immediately recognized that the passport was fake, he was searched and questioned briefly and notified airport security but did not notitify the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran (which is also responsible for identifying detained people at airports) as he was supposed to. As a result the officer found nothing suspicious about his entrance and permitted him to leave Tehran. He was believed to have been heavily responsible for the bombing of a TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
n synagogue on April 11, 2002. He was then implicated in the May 12, 2003, suicide bombing in RiyadhRiyadhRiyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, and the MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
bombing four days later. He is believed to still be in Iran, but others claim he was either arrested or thrown out by the Iranian government to Afghanistan or Pakistan for being the alleged perpetrator of the 2005 QomQomQom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....
Bombings. - Omar Osama bin LadenOmar Osama bin LadenOmar bin Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden , better known as Omar bin Laden, is one of the sons of Osama bin Laden and his first wife and first cousin Najwa Ghanem . He is the 4th eldest son among twenty children of Osama bin Laden...
; (born 1980) son of Osama and Najwa; Omar accompanied Osama on his exile to Sudan from 1991–1996, and then to Afghanistan after that. He returned to Saudi Arabia after an apparent falling-out with his father over Omar's disagreement with violence. For a while Omar ran his own company in Jeddah as a contractor. Omar has one son, Ahmed by his ex wife whom he had divorced 3 times by 2006. In September 2006, he married Zaina they are now said to be living in a secret location in Qatar. - Mohammad bin Osama bin Laden (born c. 1983), son of OsamaOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
and Najwa, married the daughter of al-Qaeda leader Mohammed AtefMohammed AtefMohammed Atef was the alleged military chief of al-Qaida, although his role in the organization was not well known by intelligence agencies for years...
in January 2001, at Kandahar, Afghanistan, with footage broadcast by Al-Jazeera, where three of Osama's step-siblings and Osama's mother were in attendance. - Hamza bin LadenHamza bin LadenHamza bin Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden better known as Hamza bin Laden or "Hamza Laden", is a son of Osama bin Laden, and a senior member of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan...
(1991–), son of Osama. Senior member of al-Qaeda in AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. - Khaled bin Laden, son of Osama. Killed along with his father at Abbottabad, Pakistan, May 2, 2011.
- Abdul Aziz bin Laden, manages SBG's Egyptian operations; ranked Number 2 in the 2006 UAE National Superstock Bike Championship.
Family tree
- Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (1908–1967)
- His sons were:
- Salem bin LadenSalem bin LadenSalem bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian investor and businessman.-Life:Considered the eldest son of Mohammed bin Laden, the founder of Saudi Binladin Group and a half-brother and cousin of the infamous terrorist...
(1946–1988) married Caroline Carey - Ali bin Laden
- Thabet bin Laden (d. 2009)
- Mahrous bin Laden
- Hassan bin Laden
- Bakr bin LadenBakr bin LadenBakr bin Laden, brother of Osama bin Laden, is the chairman of the Jeddah-based Saudi Binladin Group and the largest majority shareholder in the Group, with a 23.58% holding....
- Khalid bin Laden
- Yeslam bin LadinYeslam bin LadinYeslam bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Ladin better known as Yeslam bin Laden, also written Yeslam Binladin, as he prefers to spell it, is a Swiss businessman and the half-brother of the deceased al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden....
(b. 1950) married Carmen bin LadinCarmen bin LadinCarmen Binladin was a member of the bin Laden family. She was raised in Lausanne, Switzerland by her mother along with three other sisters...
(b. 1954)- Wafah Dufour (b. 1978)
- Najia Dufour (b. 1979)
- Noor Dufour (b. 1987)
- Ghalib bin Laden
- Yahya bin Laden
- Abdul Aziz bin Laden
- Issa bin Laden
- Tarek bin Laden
- Ahmed bin Laden
- Ibrahim bin Laden
- Shafiq bin Laden
- Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
(1957–2011) married Najwa GhanemNajwa GhanemNajwa bin Laden , née Ghanem, is a Syrian woman who was the first wife and first cousin of Osama bin Laden. Her father is the brother of Osama's mother, Hamida al-Attas . Najwa was "promised" in marriage to Osama. She is the mother of Saad bin Laden, as well as at least 10 more children...
(b. 1960) - Khalil bin Ladin
- Saleh bin Ladin
- Haider bin Laden
- Saad bin Laden
- Abdullah bin Laden
- Yasser bin Laden
- Mohammad bin Laden (b. 1967)
- Salem bin Laden
Osama bin Laden's children
Osama bin Laden's known children, from his respective wives, include:- Najwa Ghanem
- Abdullah bin Laden (b. 1976)
- Abdul Rahman bin Laden (b. 1978)
- Saad bin LadenSaad bin LadenSa'ad bin Osama bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Laden , better known as Saad bin Laden, is one of the sons of Osama bin Laden. He continued in his father's footsteps by occupying a position within Al-Qaeda...
(b.1979) reported to have been killed in an airstrike in Pakistan's tribal region in 2009 - Omar bin Laden (b. 1981) married Zaina Alsabah-Bin laden 2006 to date
- Osman bin Laden (b. 1983)
- Mohammed bin Laden (b. 1985)
- Fatima bin Laden (b. 1987)
- Iman bin Laden (b. 1990)
- Laden "Bakr" bin Laden (b. 1993)
- Rukhaiya bin Laden (b. 1997)
- Nour bin Laden (b. 1999)
- Khadijah Sharif
- Ali bin Laden (b. 1986)
- Amer bin Laden (b. 1990)
- Aisha bin Laden (b. 1992)
- Khairiah Sabar
- Hamza bin LadenHamza bin LadenHamza bin Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden better known as Hamza bin Laden or "Hamza Laden", is a son of Osama bin Laden, and a senior member of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan...
(1991)
- Hamza bin Laden
- Siham Sabar
- Kadhija bin Laden (b. 1988–2011)
- Khalid bin Laden (b. 1989–2011)
- Miriam bin Laden (b. 1990)
- Sumaiya bin Laden (b. 1992)
- Amal al-Sadah
- Safiyah bin Laden (b. 2001)
The bin Laden flights
At least 13 relatives of Osama bin Laden, accompanied by bodyguards and associates, left the United States on a chartered flight with Ryan International AirlinesRyan International Airlines
Ryan International Airlines, Inc. is an American FAR 121 airline with domestic, flag, and supplemental authority.Based in Rockford, Illinois, the US Postal Service was once the airline's main customer, flying Boeing 727 aircraft on scheduled cargo flights...
(Ryan International Flight 441)
eight days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to a passenger manifest released on July 21, 2004. The passenger list was made public by Sen. Frank Lautenberg
Frank Lautenberg
Frank Raleigh Lautenberg is the senior United States Senator from New Jersey and a member of the Democratic Party. Previously, he was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automatic Data Processing, Inc.-Early life, career, and family:...
(D-NJ), who obtained the manifest from officials at Boston's Logan International Airport. None of the flights, domestic or international, took place before the reopening of national airspace on the morning of Sept. 13 and the 9/11 Commission found "no evidence of a political intervention".
Among the passengers with the bin Laden surname were Omar Awad bin Laden, who had lived with OBL nephew Abdallah Awad bin Laden who was involved in forming the U.S. branch of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth in Alexandria, and Shafig bin Laden
Shafig bin Laden
An investor, Shafig bin Laden is a half-brother to Osama bin Laden, and was in attendance at the Carlyle Group's Washington, DC conference at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on September 11, 2001, which George H. W. Bush also attended.-References:...
, a half brother of OBL who was reportedly attending the annual investor conference of the Carlyle Group
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary...
.
Also on board was Akberali Moawalla
Akberali Moawalla
Akberali Moawalla is a prominent Pakistani businessman, notable for his business connections to the Bin Laden family of Saudi Arabia. He is a former business partner of Yeslam bin Ladin, half-brother of the more famous Osama bin Ladin, and of the Geneva-based Saudi Investment Company , which...
, an official with the investment company run by Yeslam bin Ladin
Yeslam bin Ladin
Yeslam bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Ladin better known as Yeslam bin Laden, also written Yeslam Binladin, as he prefers to spell it, is a Swiss businessman and the half-brother of the deceased al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden....
, another of Osama bin Laden's half brothers. Records show that a passenger, Kholoud Kurdi, lived in Northern Virginia with a bin Laden relative.
The bin Laden flight has received fresh publicity because it was a topic in Michael Moore's controversial documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11
Fahrenheit 9/11
Fahrenheit 9/11 is a 2004 documentary film by American filmmaker and political commentator Michael Moore. The film takes a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the War on Terror, and its coverage in the news media...
."
The 9/11 Commission found that the "FBI conducted a satisfactory screening of Saudi nationals who left the United States on charter flights. The Saudi government was advised of and agreed to the FBI's requirements that passengers be identified and checked against various databases before the flights departed. The Federal Aviation Administration representative working in the FBI operations center made sure that the FBI was aware of the flights of Saudi nationals and was able to screen the passengers before they were allowed to depart.".
Further reading
- Bin Laden's daughter free to leave Tehran: Iran FM (AFP December 25, 2009)