Osama bin Laden

This 1998 file photo shows Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Federal authorities dropped terrorism charges against bin Laden in court papers filed Friday, formally ending a case against the slain al-Qaida leader that began with hopes of seeing him brought to justice in a civilian court. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan approved a request made by federal prosecutors to dismiss the charges - a procedural move that's routine when defendants under indictment die.