Fatāwā of Osama bin Laden

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Osama bin Laden wrote what is referred to as a fatwa in August 1996^[1], and was one of several signatories of another and shorter fatwa in February of 1998^[2]. Both documents appeared initially in the Arabic-language London newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi^[1]^[2]. At the time, bin Laden was not a wanted man in any country except his native Saudi Arabia, and was not yet known as the leader of the international terrorist organisation al-Qaeda. Therefore these fatwas, or fatawa, received relatively little attention until after the August 1998 United States embassy bombings, for which bin Laden is indicted^[3]. The indictment mentions the first fatwa, and claims that Khalid al-Fawwaz, of bin Laden's Advice and Reformation Committee in London, participated in its communication to the press.

Bin Laden's 1996 fatwa is entitled "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places". This document is sometimes called the Ladenese epistle, a term derived from bin Laden's surname. It is a long piece, and complains of American activities in numerous countries.

The 1998 fatwa^[2]^[4] reached al-Quds al-Arabi by fax, and was signed by five people, four of whom represented (or were said by the newspaper to represent) specific Islamist groups:

Osama bin Laden
Ayman al-Zawahiri, "emir of the Jihad Group in Egypt", probably meaning Islamic Jihad, now known as Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Ahmed Refai Taha, alias Abu Yasser, of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (in Egypt)
Mir Hamzah, "secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan", or so he claimed
Fazul Rahman, "emir of the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh", probably Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh or HUJI-B; HUJI itself is in Pakistan.

The signatories as a group were identified as the "World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders". This fatwa complains of American military presence in the Arabian Peninsula, and American support for Israel. It purports to provide religious authorization for indiscriminate killing of Americans and Jews everywhere. It appeared in February 1998 and the embassy bombings followed in August.