<!--Do NOT add citations to the lead, except for material likely to be challenged, per MOS:LEADCITE (Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section#Citations). Move unneeded citations to the body.-->Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (; 10 March 19572 May 2011) was a Saudi Arabian-born Islamist dissident and militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, he participated in the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union and supported the activities of the Bosnian mujahideen during the Yugoslav Wars. Bin Laden is considered to have been the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks in the United States. Wikipedia