What is the highest educational qualification Osama bin Laden held?

Osama bin Laden was a civil engineer. He graduated from the Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah in 1979. In the same year, he went to Afghanistan to help the Afghan resistance fighters known as Mujadheen.

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 10,1957. His father Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a rich construction magnate.Osama was the 17th of 52 children born to his father. His mother Hamida al-Attas was an educated girl from Syria and was the tenth wife of his father.

Osama got married first in 1974. He was married at the age of 17 to his 14-year-old first cousin Najwa Ghanem, the first of his four wives. She is of Syrian origin and is said to have fathered at least 10 of his children.

The first terrorist attack that involved bin Laden and his associates was in the year 1992. A bomb had been planted in a hotel in Aden, Yemen. US troops had been staying in the said hotel while they were on their way to Somalia. While the soldiers had already left, the attacks killed 4 Austrian tourists.

On 9 September, 2001, 4 commercial passenger airliners were hijacked by 19 members of al-Qaeda. The hijackers crashed the two aircraft into twin towers of the World Trade Centre, New York City. The third plane was crashed into The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington DC and the fourth airliner crashed into a field near Shanksville. The attack killed 3,000 civilians and 19 hijackers.

Bin Laden was expelled from Saudi Arabia due to his anti-government activities in 1991. Saudi Arabia revoked his citizenship, and his family disowned him as well. He then took refuge in Sudan.

Osama first declared war on America after the 9/11 attacks. After the attacks, Osama released a video tape praising the hijackers involved in the attack. Osama also said in the video tape “America will not live in peace before peace reigns in Palestine, and before the army of infidels departs the land of Mohammad.”

Osama figured on these lists after his involvement in the 1998 US embassies bombings. Laden’s organisation was the original target of the war on terror waged by the US in 2001. Osama bin Laden was found and killed on May 2, 2011 in Pakistan by CIA agents.

In 2010, Laden’s organisation had planned an attack on the Yemen planes. There were two packages carrying bombs in two cargo planes bound from Yemen to United States. The plot however was foiled because the bombs were discovered thanks to Saudi intelligence reports.

Osama bin Laden’s father was a very famous and wealthy businessman. Osama’s family was said to be in the innermost circle of the Saudi royal family. Osama worked in his family business in 1989 to raise funds for the veterans of the Afghan war.