Bin Ladens father was Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden , a Saudi millionaire from Hadhramaut , Yemen and the founder of the construction company , Saudi Binladin Group . His mother , Alia Ghanem , was from a secular middle-class family based in Latakia , Syria . He was born in Saudi Arabia and studied at university in the country until 1979 , when he joined Mujahideen forces in Pakistan fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan . He helped to fund the Mujahideen by funneling arms , money and fighters from the Arab world into Afghanistan , and gained popularity among many Arabs . In 1988 , he formed al-Qaeda . He was banished from Saudi Arabia in 1992 , and shifted his base to Sudan , until U.S. pressure forced him to leave Sudan in 1996 . After establishing a new base in Afghanistan , he declared a war against the United States , initiating a series of bombings and related attacks . Bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation 's ( FBI ) lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists for his involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings
1998 U.S. embassy bombings
1998 United States embassy bombings
Osama bin Laden