[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 jihadist organization al-Qaeda.
These fatāwā received relatively little attention until after the August 1998 United States embassy bombings, for which bin Laden was indicted.
[3] The indictment mentions the first fatwā, and claims that Khalid al-Fawwaz, of bin Laden's Advice and Reformation Committee in London, participated in its communication to the press.
Claiming that the United States has been using its military bases in the Arabian Peninsula as "a spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples", the fatwa purports to provide religious authorization for indiscriminate killing of Americans and their allies – combatant or civilian – everywhere.
[citation needed] The 9/11 Commission uses the text of the 23 February 1998 fatwa as evidence that linked Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and al-Qaeda to the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.