( ar, سعد بن أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن; 19792009), better known as Saad bin Laden, was one of
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
's sons. He continued in his father's footsteps by being active in
Al Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
, and was being groomed to be his heir apparent. He was killed in an American drone strike in 2009.
Life
Born in 1979 in Jeddah, to the wealthy
Bin Laden family
The Binladin family ( ar, عائلة بن لادن, ) is an Arab family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the House of Saud, Saudi royal family. It is the namesake and controlling shareholder of Saudi Binladin Group, a multinati ...
. His paternal grandmother is a
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
n national called
Hamida al-Attas.
He was believed to be married to a woman from
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. After 9/11, Saad bin Laden fled to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and was later detained and placed under house arrest by Iranian authorities.
Iran stated that a number of al-Qaeda leaders and members were in their custody.
Bin Laden was implicated in
the bombing of a Tunisian synagogue on 11 April 2002, which killed 19 people. In March 2003, there were disputed claims of his capture by
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, though these proved false, and he was implicated in the 12 May 2003 suicide bombing in
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and the
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
bombing four days later. However, bin Laden's family denied he was involved in the attacks.
In January 2009, however, U.S. Intelligence officials confirmed that bin Laden was no longer being held in Iranian custody and was likely hiding in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
[ Letters exchanged between Saad bin Laden and his brother Khalid bin Laden revealed that he fled from Iranian custody around this time and escaped to Pakistan, while many of his relatives were still detained.][ The report of his escape was also confirmed by his younger sister Eman bin Laden, who also managed to escape from Iranian custody and flee to Saudi Arabia.][
]
Death
On 22 July 2009, National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
reported that U.S. officials believe Saad bin Laden was killed by a CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
-administered unmanned aerial vehicle strike in Pakistan. A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said U.S. intelligence agencies are "80 to 85 percent" certain that bin Laden was killed in a missile strike "sometime this year."
On 24 July 2009, ''The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' reported that senior Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
spokesmen claimed Saad bin Laden was not killed, or even hurt, during the missile attack. No evidence, however, surfaced to prove that bin Laden was still alive, and it was later reported that Osama bin Laden, shortly before his death during a Navy SEAL raid in 2011, was grooming his younger son Hamza bin Laden
Hamza bin Osama bin Mohammed bin 'Awad bin Laden ( ar, حمزة بن أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن; or ), better known as Hamza bin Laden, was a Saudi Arabian-born member of Al-Qaeda. He was a son of Al-Qaeda leader Osama ...
to be his heir apparent, a position that was originally bestowed to Saad.[ Letters retrieved from the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan confirmed that Saad was killed.][
In September 2012, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri confirmed in a video message that Saad bin Laden was killed in a drone strike.]
See also
*Bin Laden family
The Binladin family ( ar, عائلة بن لادن, ) is an Arab family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the House of Saud, Saudi royal family. It is the namesake and controlling shareholder of Saudi Binladin Group, a multinati ...
*Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Center (SAC) is a division of the United States Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert operation, covert and paramilitary operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to 2015. Within S ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bin Laden, Saad
1979 births
2009 deaths
Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders
Saad
Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Pakistan
Fugitives
Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members
Saudi Arabian people of Syrian descent
Saudi Arabian people of Yemeni descent
Saudi Arabian expatriates in Pakistan