Al-Qaeda Leader Bin Laden 'Dead'


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Osama Bin Laden

The US is in possession of Bin Laden's body, the reports say. President Barack Obama is due to make a statement shortly.

Bin Laden is top of the US most wanted list.

He is accused of being behind a number of atrocities, including the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001.

The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a mansion outside Islamabad in an operation based on actionable US intelligence, CNN reported.

Osama bin Laden is dead and his body has been recovered by U.S. authorities, U.S. officials said on Sunday.

U.S. President Barack Obama was to make the dramatic announcement shortly in a hastily called, late-night appearance at the White House.

As they waited for the contents of his statement, multiple news organizations reported sources in the White House had confirmed bin Laden's death almost a decade after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.


US president to declare bin Laden dead
Mon, 02 May 2011 03:04:20 GMT
The United States President Barack Obama is set to announce that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead, an unnamed US official says.

The official said bin Laden's dead body is found, but he did not give further details on how he has been killed, AFP reports.

However, other US media sources say bin Laden was killed in an operation outside the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Obama is expected to make a televised announcement from the White House shortly.

The development comes almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

On September 11, 2001, a series of coordinated attacks were carried out in the United States, leaving almost 3,000 people dead.

During the incident, 19 reported "al-Qaeda terrorists" hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners and crashed two of them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings.

The hijackers crashed a third airliner into The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.

HJL/HRF


(CBS News)

The founder and spiritual figurehead for al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, is dead.

Several officials confirmed the report to CBS News, and say that his body is currently in U.S. hands.

President Barack Obama is expected to address the nation on the subject shortly.

Watch President Obama's address on bin Laden live

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces. While details are still sketchy, CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports from the White House that officials are saying bin Laden was shot in the head.

The long-lost terrorist mastermind had eluded an aggressive hunt by U.S. authorities for nearly ten years since the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001.

Bin Laden's death is a major accomplishment for Mr. Obama and his national security team, as the administrations of both presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush hunted the Saudi-born terrorist.

Security at "strategic places in Pakistan has been beefed up as a precaution against any retaliation to news of Osama bin Laden's death", a senior Pakistani security official told CBS News early on Monday. "If he(bin Laden) is really dead, there will be attempts to seek revenge," said the official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity.

Former State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Twitter: "#BinLaden's death does not eliminate the threat from #alQaeda, but it is hard to see anyone playing the same organizational role he did."

Osama bin Laden dead: officials
US president expected to announce that al-Qaeda leader has died and that US is in possession of the body.
Last Modified: 02 May 2011 03:31
Afghan officials confirm that al-Qadea leader Bin Laden has died [GALLO/GETTY]

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, has been killed, media reports say.

US president Barack Obama is due to make a statement shortly in which he is expected to announce bin Laden's death.

A US source told the Reuters news agency that bin Laden had been killed in a house outside Islamabad in a US operation. His body is apparently in the possession of the US.

Qais Azimy, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, said that Afghan officials have confirmed that bin Laden had died and that his body was with the United States.

Officials said that the death of the al-Qaeda leader was more of a "symbolic victory", as he was no longer directly connected to the group's field operations, Azimy reported.

It is a major accomplishment for Obama and his national security team. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, had repeatedly vowed to bring to justice the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, but never did before leaving office in early 2009.

US officials said that after searching in vain for the al Qaeda leader since he disappeared in Afghanistan in late 2001, the Saudi-born fighter is dead and his body recovered.

Having the body may help convince any doubters that bin Laden is really dead.

He had been the subject of a search since he eluded US soldiers and Afghan militia forces in a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001. The trail quickly went cold after he disappeared and many intelligence officials believed he had been hiding in Pakistan.

While in hiding, bin Laden had taunted the West and advocated his views in videotapes spirited from his hideaway.

Besides September 11, Washington has also linked bin Laden to a string of attacks -- including the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 bombing of the warship USS Cole in Yemen.


Obama declares Osama bin Laden dead
Mon, 02 May 2011 03:04:20 GMT
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The United States President Barack Obama has announced that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead after he was found hiding in a compound in Pakistan.

"The US launched a targeted operation on that compound... No Americans were hurt. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden, and took his body," Obama said in a televised speech.

"The US has never been and will never be in fight with Islam," he said, adding that bin Laden was also a mass-murderer of Muslims.

The development comes almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

On September 11, 2001, a series of coordinated attacks were carried out in the United States, leaving almost 3,000 people dead.

During the incident, 19 reported "al-Qaeda terrorists" hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners and crashed two of them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings.

The hijackers crashed a third airliner into The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.

Osama bin Laden killed in Pakistan

Osama bin Laden killed in Pakistan
US president confirms al-Qaeda leader's death, saying he has been killed in firefight following US raid in Abbottabad.

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, is dead.

US president Barack Obama said bin Laden, the most-wanted fugitive on the US list, has been killed on Sunday in a US operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, about 150km north of Islamabad.

"Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama Bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people," Obama said in a statement.

"Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation... they killed Osama Bin Laden and took custody of his body.

"The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against Al Qaeda.

"We must also reaffirm that United states is not and will never be at war against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, in fact, he slaughtered many Muslims," Obama said.

Qais Azimy, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, said that Afghan officials have confirmed that bin Laden had died and that his body was with the United States.

The officials said the death of the al-Qaeda leader was more of a "symbolic victory", as he was no longer directly connected to the group's field operations, Azimy reported.

It is a major accomplishment for Obama and his national security team. Obama's predecessor, George Bush, had repeatedly vowed to bring to justice the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, but never did before leaving office in early 2009.

He had been the subject of a search since he eluded US soldiers and Afghan militia forces in a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001. The trail quickly went cold after he disappeared and many intelligence officials believed he had been hiding in Pakistan.

While in hiding, bin Laden had taunted the West and advocated his views in videotapes spirited from his hideaway.

Besides September 11, Washington has also linked bin Laden to a string of attacks -- including the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 bombing of the warship USS Cole in Yemen.

Having the body may help convince any doubters that bin Laden is really dead.


Obama: Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead

AP Photo

WASHINGTON – Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States, President Barack Obama said Sunday.

A small team of Americans killed bin Laden in a firefight at a compound in Pakistan, the president said in a dramatic late-night statement at the White House.

A jubilant crowd gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden's death after a global manhunt that lasted nearly a decade.

"Justice has been done," the president said.

Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden's death as a momentous achievement. "The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," he said.

Few details were immediately available of the operation that resulted in bin Laden's death, although the president said none of the Americans involved was harmed.

The development comes just months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people.

The attacks set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.

Al-Qaida was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 231 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled.


Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden dead - Obama

Osama Bin LadenBin Laden is top of the US "most wanted" list

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Al-Qaeda founder and leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed by US forces in Pakistan, President Obama has said.

The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a ground operation outside Islamabad based on US intelligence, the first lead for which emerged last August.

Mr Obama said after "a firefight", US forces took possession of his body.

Bin Laden was accused of being behind a number of atrocities, including the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001.

He was top of the US "most wanted" list.

The US has put its embassies around the world on alert, warning Americans of the possibility of al-Qaeda reprisal attacks for Bin Laden's killing.

Crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington DC, chanting "USA, USA" after the news emerged.

'Lead last August'

Bin Laden approved the 9/11 attacks in which nearly 3,000 people died, saying later that the results had exceeded his expectations.

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The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done”

Former US President George W Bush

He evaded the forces of the US and its allies for almost a decade, despite a $25m bounty on his head.

His death will be seen as a major blow to al-Qaeda but also raise fears of reprisal attacks, correspondents say.

Mr Obama said he had been briefed last August on a possible lead to Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts.

It led to intelligence that the al-Qaeda leader was hiding in a compound deep within Pakistan.

The president authorised an operation to "get Bin Laden" last week, he said, and on Sunday a small team of US forces undertook the operation in Abbottabad, north of Islamabad.

After a "firefight" Bin Laden was killed and his body taken by US forces, the president said.

World Trade Center on 9/11Osama Bin Laden approved the 9/11 attacks

Former US President Bill Clinton said in a statement: "This is a profoundly important moment not just for the families of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and in al-Qaeda's other attacks but for people all over the world who want to build a common future of peace, freedom, and cooperation for our children."

Mr Clinton's successor, President George W Bush, described the news as a "momentous achievement".

"The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," Mr Bush said in a statement.

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