Who Is Bin Laden?

He has been called the most dangerous man in the world.

And he says he's happy about the terrorist attacks on the United States, but the Saudi dissident is denying any involvement.

Osama bin Laden, a former Saudi Arabian national, is believed to be living in Afghanistan where he directs a network of Islamic fundamentalists in terrorist operations.

A Palestinian journalist got a call early Tuesday from one of bin Laden's aides who was at a hideout in Afghanistan. The aide said that when bin Laden found out about the attacks, he "thanked almighty Allah and bowed before him."

Bin Laden, who's believed to be about 40 years old, is worth $200 to $250 million. It's this money, it's believed, that he uses to finance terrorist attacks.

Bin Laden has publicly admitted to several attacks on the United States, including direct bomb attacks on U.S. servicemen in Somalia in 1992. U.S. military intelligence has also linked him to the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000.

Bin Laden's wealth comes from his family. His father had been Saudi Arabia's richest construction tycoon and in 1996, the family's wealth was pegged at $5 billion.

He rose to prominence in the 1980s as a staunch opponent and fighter of Soviet troops in Afghanistan, acting as one of the main leaders of the Arab volunteers

After the war, he went into exile in Sudan to run several businesses.

Bin Laden has also been a main figure in the Islamic movement, working to topple a pro-Western monarchy in Saudi Arabia.

In 1998, bin Laden explained why he declared a "jihad" -- a holy war -- on the United States.

"We declared jihad against the US government, because the US government is unjust, criminal and tyrannical," he said. "It has committed acts that are extremely unjust, hideous and criminal whether directly or through its support of the Israeli occupation of the Prophet's Night Travel Land (Palestine). And we believe the U.S. is directly responsible for those who were killed in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq."

As part of his crusade, bin Laden allegedly has been providing funds for Islamic terrorists. But in a twist on the stereotypical terrorism model, bin Laden's terrorist group is not identified with a single country. Rather, he seems to be engineering it on a businessman's model, in which his "holy soldiers" comprise a multinational terrorist corporation of sorts.

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