Who is the founder of al-Qaeda who led the 9/11 attacks?

• A. Ayman al-Zawahiri
• B. Osama bin Laden
• C. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
• D. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

Answer: (B)

The central idea is identifying who built and led al-Qaeda to carry out major attacks like 9/11. Osama bin Laden founded al-Qaeda in the late 1980s and provided the leadership, financing, and strategic direction for the network that carried out the 9/11 attacks. He was the key figure behind organizing and executing that operation, making him the correct answer.

Ayman al-Zawahiri was an important organizer and ideologue within al-Qaeda and later became its leader after bin Laden’s death, but he did not found the group or launch the 9/11 plot. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the principal architect of the 9/11 operation—the person who helped design the attack and coordinate the hijackers—but he was not the founder of al-Qaeda. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi led an affiliate group in Iraq and was associated with al-Qaeda, but he was not involved in founding al-Qaeda or planning the 9/11 attacks.