He died in the very early 2000's while hiding in his bunker due to kidney failure. The CIA couldn't have that and needed their boogie man to still be active. Some of the threats he made on video over the years after that were very clearly NOT him. It was very laughable at the time. They even forgot once and left a CIA watermark on the original video. There is a reason they gave him a deep sea "burial" when they finally were done pretending he was still alive.