Criminal Charges

On March 16,1998, Libya issued the first official Interpol arrest warrant against bin Laden and three other people. They were charged for killing two German citizens in Libya on March 10, 1994, on whom is thought to have been a German counter intelligence officer. Bin Laden was still wanted by the Libyan Government at the time of his death. Osama bin Laden was first indicted by the United States on June8, 1998, when a grand Jury indicted Osama bin Laden on charges of killing five Americans and two Indians in the November 14, 1995, truck bombing of a U.S.operated Saudi National Guard training center in Riyadh.
Bin Laden was charged with "conspiracy to attack defense utilities of the United States" and prosecutors further charged that bin Laden is the head of the terrorist organization called al-Qaeda, and that he was a major financial backer of Islamic fighters worldwide. Bin Laden denied involvement but praised the attack. On November 4, 1998, Osama bin Laden was indicted by Federal Grand Jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on charges of Murder of U.S National Outside the United States, Conspiracy to Murder U.S National Outside the United States, and Attacks on a Federal Facility Resulting in Death for his alleged role in the 1998 United States embassy bombing in Kenya and Tanzania. The evidence against bin Laden insluded courtroom testimony by former al-Qaeda members and satellite phone records, from a phone purchased for him by al-Qaeda procurement agent Ziyad Khaleel in the United States.
Bin Laden became the 456 person listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, when he was added to the list June 7, 1999, following his inkictment along with other for capital crimes in the 1998 embassy attacks. Attempts at assassination and requests for the extradition of bin Laden from the Taliban of Afghanistan were met with failure prior to the bombing of Afghanistan in October 2001. In 1999, U.S President Bill Clinton convinced the United Nations to impose sanctions against Afghanistan in an attempt to force the Taliban to extadite him.
Years later, on October 10, 2001, bin Laden appeared as well on the initial list of the top 22 FBI Most Wanted Terrorists, which was released to the public by the President of the United States George W. Bush, in direct response to the September 11 attacks, but which was again based on the indictment for the 1998 embassy attack. Bin laden was among a group of thirteen fugitive terrorists wanted on that latter list for questioning about the 1998 embassy bombings. Bin Laden remains the only fugitive ever to be listed on both FBI fugitive lists.
Despite the multiple indictments listed above and multiple requests, the Taliban refused to extradite Osama bin Laden. It was not until after the bombing of Afghanistan began in October 2001 that the Taliban finally did offer to turn over Osama bin Laden to a third party country for trial, in return for the United States ending the bombing and providing evidence that Osama bin Laden was involved in the September 11 attacks. This offer was rejected by President Bush stating that this was no longer negotiable with Bush responding "there's no need to discus innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty".

September 11 Attacks

God knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers, but after the situation became unbearable and we witness the injustice and tyranny of the American Israeli alliance against our people in Palestine and Lebanon I thought about it.And the events that affected me directly were that of 1982 and the events that followed when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it accourred to me punish the unjust the same way: to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women.

                                                                                                                    Osama bin Laden,2004

After repeated denials, in 2004, Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States. The attacks involved the hijacking of  four commercial passenger aircraft, the subsequent destruction of those planes and the World Trade Center in New York. City, New York, sever damage to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virgina, and the deaths of 2,974 people and the nineteen hijackers.In response to the attacks, the United States launched a War on Terror to depose the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and capture al-Qaeda operatives, and several countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation to preclude future attacks. The CIA's Special  Activities Division was given the lead in tracking down and killing or capturing bin Laden.
The Federal bureau of Investigation has stated that classified evidence linking al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the September 11 attacks is clear and irrefutable. The UK Government reached a similar conclusion regarding al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden's culpability for the September 11 attacks, although the government report notes that the evidence presented is not necessarily sufficient for a prosecutable case.
Bin Laden initially denied involvement in the attacks. On September 16, 2001, bin Laden read  a statement later broadcast by Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite channel denying responsibility for the attack.
In a video tape recovered by U.S. forces in November 2001 in Jalalabad, bin Laden was seen discussing the attack with Khaled al-Harbi in a way that indicates foreknowledge. The tape was broadcast on various news networks on December 13, 2001. The merits of this translation have been disputed. Arabist Dr. Abdel EIM Husseini stated: "This translation is very problematic. At the most important places where it is held to prove the guilt of bin Laden, it is not identical with the Arabic."
In the 2004 Osama Bin Laden video, bin laden abandoned his denials without retracting past statements. In it he stated he had personally directed the nineteen hihackers. In teh 18 minute tape, played on Al-Jazeera, four days before the American presidential election, bin laden accused U.S. President George W. Bush of negligence on the hijacking of the plane on September 11.
According to the tapes, bin Laden claimed he was inspired to destroy the World Trade Center after watching the destruction of towers in Lebanon by Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War.
In two other tapes aired by Al Jazeera in 2006, Osama bin Laden anounces,
I am the one in charge of the ninteen brothers. I was responsible for entrusting the nineteen brothers with the raids[5 minute audio tape broadcast May23, 2006]. and is seen with Ramzi bin al-Shibh, as well as two of the 9/11 hijackers, hamza al-Ghamdi and Wail al-Shehri, as they make preparations for the attacks (video tape broadcast September 7, 2006).
Identified motivations of the September 11 attacks include the support of Isreal by the United States, presence of the U.S. military in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. enforcement of sanctions  against Iraq.
Criminal Charges
On March 16, 1998, Libya issued the first official Interpol arrest warrant against bin Laden and three other people. They were charged for killing two German citizens in Libya on March 10, 1994, one of whom is thought to have been a German counter intelligence officer. Bin Laden was still wanted by the Libyan government  at the time of his death. Osama bin Laden was first indicted by the United States on June 8, 1998,when a grand jury indicted Osama bin Laden on charges of killing five Americans and two Indians in the November 14,1995, truck bombing of a U.S.operated Saudi National Guard Training center in Riyadh.