AL-Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden Dead,says Obama

Osama bin Laden, the 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, President Barack Obama has announced.

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.

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 was killed. Pakistani co-operation “helped to lead us to him” he said.

Osama’s body is in possession of the US, according to the first reports 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 at around 11.30pm eastern time.

Bin Laden’s capture 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 has been able to announce the final triumph as 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.

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 ensures the re-election of Obama in 2012.

As a candidate during the 2008 election campaign, Obama repeatedly vowed: “We will kill Osama bin Laden.” And so it has proved.

The Obama statement was scheduled originally 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 a 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 details other than to say that it was “highly sensitive intelligence operation”.

The official said he was “not at liberty” to give further 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.

Abbottabad is about two hours’ 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-inch fugitive, one of the most famous faces in the world, managed to escape justice for so long.

Pakistan’s intelligence services have largely co-operated with the US in capturing al-Qaida fugitives – some of the most notorious figures seized since 2001 were caught in Pakistan’s cities such as the architect of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.

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 Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The death of bin Laden, who achieved near-mythic status for his ability to elude capture under three U.S. presidents, closes a bitter chapter in the fight against al Qaeda, but it does not eliminate the threat of further attacks.

The September 11, 2001, attacks, in which al Qaeda militants used hijacked planes to strike at economic and military symbols of American might, spawned two wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, inflicted damage on U.S. ties with the Muslim world that have yet to be repaired, and redefined security for air travelers.

A small U.S. strike team, dropped by helicopter to bin Laden’s compound near the Pakistani capital Islamabad under the cover of night, shot dead the al Qaeda leader in a firefight, U.S. officials said.

“This was a kill operation,” one security official told Reuters, but added: “If he had waved a white flag of surrender he would have been taken alive.”

The revelation that bin Laden was living in a three-story residence in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, and not as many had speculated, in the country’s lawless western border regions, is a huge embarrassment toPakistan, whose relations with Washington have frayed under the Obama administration.

President Barack Obama, whose popularity suffered from continuing U.S. economic woes, will likely see a short-term bounce in his approval ratings. At the same time, he is likely to face mounting pressure from Americans to speed up the planned withdrawal this July of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

However, Bin Laden’s death is unlikely to have any impact on the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are facing record violence by a resurgent Taliban.

Many analysts see bin Laden’s death as largely symbolic since he was no longer believed to have been issuing operational orders to the many autonomous al Qaeda affiliates around the world.

Financial markets were more optimistic. The dollar and stocks rose, while oil and gold fell, on the view bin Laden’s death reduced global security risks.

WARNINGS OF AL QAEDA REVENGE

Fearful of revenge attacks, the United States swiftly issued security warnings to Americans worldwide. CIA Director Leon Panetta said al Qaeda would “almost certainly” try to avenge bin Laden’s death.

“Though Bin Laden is dead, al Qaeda is not. The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him, and we must — and will — remain vigilant and resolute,” Panetta said.

France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the killing as a coup in the fight against terrorism, but he, too, warned it did not spell al Qaeda’s demise.

British Prime Minster David Cameron said the West would have to be “particularly vigilant” in the weeks ahead.

U.S. officials said bin Laden was found in a million-dollar compound in Abbottabad, 35 miles north of Islamabad. After 40 minutes of fighting, bin Laden, three other men and a woman, who U.S. officials said was used as a human shield, lay dead.

A source familiar with the operation said bin Laden was shot in the head after the U.S. military team, which included members of the Navy’s elite Seals unit, stormed the compound.

Television pictures from inside the house showed bloodstains smeared across a floor next to a large bed.

BURIED AT SEA

Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said bin Laden was buried at sea. A third official said this was done to prevent a gravesite on land becoming a shrine for followers.

It was the biggest national security victory for the president since he took office in early 2009 and will make it difficult for Republicans to portray Democrats as weak on security as he seeks re-election in 2012.

In sharp contrast to the celebrations in America, on the streets of Saudi Arabia, bin Laden’s native land, there was a mood of disbelief and sorrow among many. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas mourned bin Laden as an “Arab holy warrior.”

But many in the Arab world felt his death was long overdue. For many Arabs, inspired by the popular upheavals in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere over the past few months, the news of bin Laden’s death had less significance than it once might have.

PAKISTAN TOLD AFTER RAID

The operation could complicate relations with Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the battle against militancy and the war in Afghanistan. Those ties have already been damaged over U.S. drone strikes in the west of the country and the six-week imprisonment of a CIA contractor earlier this year.

Pakistani authorities were told the details of the raid only after it had taken place, highlighting the lack of trust between Washington and Islamabad.

“For some time there will be a lot of tension between Washington and Islamabad because bin Laden seems to have been living here close to Islamabad,” said Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani security analyst.

Bin Laden was finally found after U.S. forces discovered in August 2010 that one of his most trusted couriers lived in an unusual and high-security building in Pakistan that had few outward facing windows and no Internet or telephone access.

“After midnight, a large number of commandos encircled the compound. Three helicopters were hovering overhead,” said Nasir Khan, a resident of the town.

“All of a sudden there was firing toward the helicopters from the ground,” said Khan, who watched the dramatic scene unfold from his rooftop.

Thousands of cheering and flag-waving people converged on the White House after Obama made his televised announcement. Similar celebrations erupted at New York’s Ground Zero, site of the World Trade Center twin towers destroyed on September 11.

“I never figured I’d be excited about someone’s death. It’s been a long time coming,” said firefighter Michael Carroll, 27, whose firefighter father died in the September 11 attacks.

Former President George W. Bush, whose eight-year presidency was defined by the September 11 attacks after he launched a global “war on terror” to root out Islamic militants, called the operation a “momentous achievement”.

The United States is conducting DNA testing on bin Laden and used facial recognition techniques to help identify him, the official said.

However It is Interesting to mention how most of the people are taking this news, as it a Fake or Truth?! Due to the Repeated dramas of U.S about killing of Osama and then finding him alive again, It has became hard for people now to believe this news. We wont mention our any personal views on it Since Its Allah Alone who knows best, What we can mention is nothing more than this:

Do not accept unverified information. (Qur’an 17:36)

Listen to all views and follow the best. (Qur’an 39:18)

Read in order to know, but read critically. (Qur’an 96:1-5)

And Allah knows best, He the Most High Says : I am All-Knowing, All wise!

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