The FBI Most Wanted Terrorists is a list created and first released on October 10, 2001, with the authority of United States President George W. Bush, following the September 11 attacks (9/11 incident). Initially, the list contained 22 of the top suspected terrorists chosen by the FBI, all of whom had earlier been indicted for acts of terrorism between 1985 and 1998. None of the 22 had been captured by US or other authorities by that date. Of the 22, only Osama Bin Laden was by then already listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
No particular legal consequences flowed from the creation of and inclusion on the list. On January 17, 2002, the FBI released a third major FBI wanted list, which has now become known as the FBI Seeking Information – War on Terrorism list, to enlist the public's help in reporting information which may prevent future terrorist attacks. The information sought to be reported is not necessarily relating to any person on any of the FBI wanted lists.