Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (died 2011)

Osama bin Laden was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union, and supported the Bosnian mujahideen during the Yugoslav Wars. Opposed to American foreign policy in the Middle East, Bin Laden declared war on the United States in 1996 and advocated attacks targeting U.S. assets in various countries, and supervised the execution of the September 11 attacks inside the U.S. in 2001.

Al-Qaeda, is a pan-Islamist militant organization led by Sunni jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world under a supra-national Islamic caliphate. Its membership is mostly composed of Arabs but also includes people from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian, economic and military targets of the U.S. and its allies; such as the 1998 US embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing, and the September 11 attacks.

March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 296 days remain until the end of the year.