Bin Laden murdered in Pakistan by US
Dead body dumped at the Arabian Sea
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Washington, May 02 2011:
Osama Bin Laden, the face of global terrorism and architect of the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight with elite American forces on Monday, then quickly buried at sea in a stunning finale to a furtive decade on the run.
Long believed to be hiding in caves, Bin Laden was tracked down in a costly, custom-built hideout not far from a Pakistani military academy.
"Justice has been done," US President Barack Obama said in a dramatic announcement at the White House while a crowd cheered outside and hundreds more gathered at ground zero in Manhattan to celebrate the news.
US helicopters ferrying elite counter-terrorism troops into the compound identified by the CIA as Bin Laden's hideout and back out again in less than 40 minutes.
Bin Laden was shot in the head, officials said, after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault.
Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of Bin Laden's sons, whom officials did not name.
One of Bin Laden's sons, Hamza, is a senior member of al-Qaida.
US officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured.
The US official who disclosed the burial at sea said it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains of Osama and that the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial.
"I heard a thundering sound, followed by heavy firing.
Then firing suddenly stopped.
Then more thundering, then a big blast,"' said Mohammad Haroon Rasheed, a resident of Abbottobad, Pakistan, after the choppers had swooped in and out.
The US did not inform Pakistan about the closely guarded operation on the outskirts of Islamabad today that resulted in the death of Al Qaeda mastermind Osama Bin Laden.
A senior US administration official said, the information was not shared with any other country including Pakistan, adding that in such a kind of operation, the information is kept only to a few people and that was done in this case.
The official told White House correspondents that the successful 40-minute operation was carried out by two US helicopters.
Announcing the death of Bin Laden, President Barack Obama asked Pakistan to co-operate with the US in the war against terror.
Obama said, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join the US in the fight against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
Obama said over the years, he had repeatedly made clear that the US would take action within Pakistan if they knew where Bin Laden was hiding.
The US President said that it is important to note that their counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead them to find Laden.
President Obama said, he called Pakistan President Zardari, and his team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterpart.
Obama said, they agreed that this is a good and historic day for both of their nations.
A senior US administration official said they would investigate as to how Osama Bin Laden was living so close to Pakistan's capital and that too in a neighbourhood which was normally a residential area of top retired military officials.
Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated the US forces.
Osama Bin Laden was the son of Saudi Arabia's wealthiest construction magnate.
He was born in 1957.He created and funded the Al Qaeda terror network, was accused of being behind a number of atrocities, including the attacks on New Yorks World Trade Centre and Washington on 11 September 2001.Osama was suspected of playing large roles in the 1998 bombings of two US Embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000.The Saudi exile had been on the run since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan overthrew the ruling Taliban regime, which harboured Bin Laden.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has said that the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan is proof that the war on terror is not in Afghanistan.
Karzai said the war should not be fought in villages and towns of Afghanistan rather, terrorist safe havens should be the target.
Afghan government had long maintained that Osama is not in Afghanistan and has shifted its base to neighbouring areas of Pakistan.
Security was strengthened around the US Embassy and nearby areas in the diplomatic enclave of Chanakya Puri in New Delhi.
A senior police official said, additional police personnel have been deployed and patrolling has been intensified around the US Embassy after the incident.
The United States today issued a worldwide travel alert for its citizens, especially those living in Pakistan, soon after President Barack Obama's announcement that Osama Bin Laden had been killed.
US citizens travelling and residing abroad have been alerted to the enhanced potential for anti-American violence given the recent counter-terrorism activity in Pakistan.
Obama made a decision to launch the operation on Friday, shortly before flying to Alabama to inspect tornado damages.
The president spent part of his Sunday on the golf course, but cut his round short to return to the White House for a meeting where he and top national security aides reviewed final preparations for the raid.
Two hours later, Obama was told that Bin Laden had been tentatively identified.
CIA director Leon Panetta was directly in charge of the military team during the operation, according to one official, and when he and his aides received word at agency headquarters that Bin Laden had been killed, cheers broke out around the conference room table.
Administration aides said the operation was so secretive that no foreign officials were informed in advance, and only a small circle inside the US government was aware of what was unfolding half a world away.
In his announcement, Obama said he had called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari after the raid, and said it was "important to note that our counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to Bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding" .
Comment
