The world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden is dead, US President Barack Obama has confirmed. Osama was killed in a firefight in Pakistan. In a dramatic, late-night White House speech, Obama revealed that he had been briefed last August on a possible lead to Osama’s whereabouts and he authorised an operation last week to bring the al Qaeda chief “to justice”. The President also said that Osama’s body was in US custody.
The mastermind of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil is dead, U.S. President Barack Obama announced late Sunday night, almost 10 years after the attacks that killed about 3,000 people. Osama bin Laden -- the founder and leader of al Qaeda -- was killed by U.S. forces Sunday in a mansion in Abbottabad, north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, along with other family members, a senior U.S. official told CNN. In an address to the nation Sunday night, Obama called bin Laden's death the most significant achievement to date in our the USA’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.
Obama said he had been briefed last August on a possible lead to Bin Laden's whereabouts. After being confirmed about the location of the dreaded Al Qaida leader, a team of US forces undertook the operation in Abbottabad on Sunday evening. After a firefight Bin Laden was killed and his body taken by US forces
In his speech, Obama reiterated that the United States is not at war with Islam. Footage that aired on GEO TV on Monday showed fire and smoke spewing from the compound where bin Laden was killed. Half a world away, the scene outside the White House was of pure jubilation. Hundreds reveled through the night, chanting "USA! USA!" Others chanted "Hey, hey, hey, goodbye!" in reference to the demise of bin Laden. Many also spontaneously sang the national anthem. The news also brought some relief to family members of those killed on 9/11. Bin Laden eluded capture for years, once reportedly slipping out of a training camp in Afghanistan just hours before a barrage of U.S. cruise missiles destroyed it. He had been implicated in a series of deadly, high-profile attacks that had grown in their intensity and success during the 1990s. They included a deadly firefight with U.S. soldiers in Somalia in October 1993, the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed 224 in August 1998, and an attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors in October 2000. U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world were placed on high alert following the announcement of bin Laden's death and the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide caution for Americans.
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