Saudi Arabia. Michael Scheuer creates a CIA unit, the Bin Laden Issue Station, to gather intelligence on Bin Laden. May 18, 1996: Heading from Africa to Asia, Bin Laden moves to Afghanistan providing him a safe haven for al-Qaeda activities. June 25, 1996: Al-Qaeda commits the Khobar Towers bombing targeting American servicemen in Saudi Arabia to participate in Operation Southern Watch. August 23, 1996: Bin Ladin issues a fatwa declaring war on the United States, which is published in the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi in London. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York open a criminal file on him under the charge of seditious conspiracy. September 27, 1996: The Taliban, a radical Islamic movement, rises to power by conquering Kabul and declares the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. November 1996: Informant Jamal al-Fadl reveals the existence of al-Qaeda to the FBI. November 23, 1996: Attackers hijack Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 and most of the passengers die in the resulting crash landing. February 1998: Bin Laden expands religious edict against US and allies by issuing a second fatwa calling on Muslims to join a jihad against Jews and Christians until the United States and Israel evacuate the Middle East, and reiterates the themes in a televised interview with ABC News. 1998: 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and associates are monitored some by US and Germany in their Hamburg apartment. June 8, 1998: A U.S. grand jury delivers a sealed indictment of bin Laden for "conspiracy to attack defense utilities of the United States." August 7, 1998: The 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania bring al-Qaeda to US public attention for the first time. August 8–10, 1998: In Mazar-i-Sharif, the Taliban and Al Qaeda's 055 Brigade massacred between 4,000 and 8,000 people, including 11 Iranian diplomats. Iran threatened to intervene, but relented after mediation by the United Nations. August 20, 1998: Operation Infinite Reach, U.S. cruise missile strikes on Al-Qaeda training camp in Khost, Afghanistan, in retaliation of Al-Qaeda's U.S. embassy bombings two weeks earlier. 1998: An embassy bombing suspect claims that an 'extensive network of al-Qaeda sleeper agents' is planning a 'big attack' inside the United States. October 8, 1999: Al-Qaeda is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation by the U.S. State Department. The Federal Aviation Administration instructs airlines to maintain "a high degree of alertness" against the organization. October 15, 1999: The United Nations