Osama Bin Laden is killed by US forces on Sunday
Osama bin Laden, the criminal mastermind behind al-Qaida and the world’s most sought-after terrorist since the attacks of 11 September 2001, has been killed by a US operation in a compound in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has announced. The latest news has also stated that three further people were killed in the operation, including one of his son’s.
In an address to the nation, President Obama said Bin Laden was killed in a “targeted operation” in Abbottabad, a highland town north of Islamabad, last night.
Barack Obama confirms Osama bin Laden's death
The operation started with an intelligence lead last August, and culminated in an operation involving a “small team of Americans”. “After a firefight they killed bin Laden.”
None of the Americans were killed. Pakistani cooperation “helped to lead us to him” he said.
Osama’s body is in possession of the US, according to the first leaks of reporting from the US television networks.
As the news spread, crowds gathered outside the gates of the White House in Washington DC, singing the national anthem and cheering.
President Obama made the highly unusual Sunday night live statement to announce the news, around 11.30pm eastern time.
The news comes eight years to the day that President George Bush declared “Mission accomplished” in Iraq. As president, Bush declared he wanted bin Laden “dead or alive” – but it is now the unlikely figure of Barack Obama who announces the final triumph as the US commander in chief.
This is a turning point in the global “war on terrorism” that has been waged since 9/11 – and the news will reverberate around the world.
Barack Obama - this news will be a massive boost to his presidency
The news comes as an unparalleled boost for US foreign policy, the key aim of which since 2001 has been the disarming and dismemberment of al-Qaida, and coincidentally probably insures the re-election of Obama in the 2012 presidential contest.
As a candidate, during the 2008 election campaign Obama repeatedly vowed: “We will kill Osama bin Laden.” And so it proved.
The Obama statement was originally scheduled for 10.30pm, but the need to inform US congressional leaders caused the delay.
In the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, one western diplomat described the news as a “game changer” – not just for al Qaida, but also for US foreign policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a region embroiled in turmoil and violence since 2001.
“I’m overjoyed,” said the diplomat. “But what this exactly means is really not clear.”
Some analysts fear bin Laden’s death could spark a precipitous US withdrawal from the region, with the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan still unresolved.
It will likely also reconfigure relations with Pakistan, where the CIA is engaged in an controversial assassination campaign against senior al Qaida figures using Predator and Reaper drones.
“He’s dead,” said an official with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, declining to give another other details other than to say that it was “highly sensitive intelligence operation.”
Osama bin Laden death - "a game changer"
The official said he was “not at liberty” to give more details on the killing, including on reports that Pakistani intelligence was involved in the operation. “We’ll release more information later this morning,” he said.
UK Prime Minister, David Cameron has spoken after news of the death of Osama bin Laden:
“The news that Osama Bin Laden is dead will bring great relief to people across the world. Osama Bin Laden was responsible for the worst terrorist atrocities the world has seen – for 9/11 and for so many attacks, which have cost thousands of lives, many of them British. It is a great success that he has been found and will no longer be able to pursue his campaign of global terror. This is a time to remember all those murdered by Osama Bin Laden, and all those who lost loved ones. It is also a time too to thank all those who work round the clock to keep us safe from terrorism. Their work will continue. I congratulate President Obama and those responsible for carrying out this operation.”
Abbottabad is about a two hour drive north of Islamabad, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is not part of the tribal belt, where the CIA drone strike campaign has been concentrated, but is home to the Pakistan military’s main training institution, the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul.
The fact that bin Laden was killed outside the tribal belt in Pakistan will raise questions about how the six-foot-four fugitive, one of the most famous faces in the world, managed to escape justice for so long.
Pakistan’s intelligence services have largely cooperated with the US in capturing al Qaida fugitives – some of the most notorious figures captured since 2001 were caught in Pakistan’s cities such as the 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.
But in recent months US military and intelligence officials have publicly complained that the ISI has been assisting the Haqqani network, an al Qaida-linked militant network that straddles the Paksitan-Afghanistan border.
Jubilation outside the White House
Now there are jubilant scenes in the US with thousands celebrating on the streets outside the White House in Washington and at Ground Zero where the 9/11 attacks happened and at Times Square in New York.
Ground Zero celebrations
There is an image spreading the globe of Osama bin Laden’s bloodied face (not yet sure if this is true – apparently taken by marine and sent to family member) –
Pakistan TV stations saying this is image of Osama bin Laden from marine at the scene
Disturbing image of allegedly bin Laden's body
Here is the video of Obama’s message to the US nation and the world –