In Pictures

In pictures: Bin Laden’s life

Pictorial gallery on al-Qaeda’s top leader, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks on the US.

Osama bin Laden gained international prominence following the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

He was born in Saudi Arabia in 1957 to a wealthy family. But he lived in relative poverty later in life as he fashioned himself

He accused the US of waging war against Muslims, and allegedly masterminded a series of attacks against the US interests

His family, which became rich from the Saudi construction boom, disowned him, and he was stripped of his Saudi citizenship

A key influence on Osama was Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian professor and member of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood

He fought along with Afghhan mujahidins against the Russians with the backing from the US

Tall, gaunt and bearded, bin Laden was unhurt by a US bomb late in 2001 in the Tora Bora mountains in eastern Afghanistan

In 2007, the US senate doubled the reward for the death or capture of the al-Qaeda leader to $50m

Bin Laden was killed at a mansion in Abbottabad, which is just 200 metres from the Pakistan Military Academy

US official quoted by AP news agency said bin Laden(***)s body had been buried at sea, although this has not been confirmed