The Al Qaeda leader responsible for the September 11 attacks has been killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan, the president said.
This frame grab from the Saudi-owned television network MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Center) shows alleged terror mastermind Osama bin Laden gesturing an undated videotape broadcast by the Dubai-based MBC April 17, 2002. Bin Laden has reportedly been killed.
Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader responsible for the September 11 attacks that killed thousands of Americans, has been killed by U.S. forces in a targeted operation in Pakistan, President Obama said in a televised address Sunday night.
"Justice has been done," he said in a surprise address at the White House.
“For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaeda’s leader and symbol and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies," Obama said. "The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda."
Obama said he authorized the military operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, earlier Sunday against a compound believed to be holding bin Laden. U.S. forces killed bin Laden after a firefight. The president said none of the Americans involved in the targetted assault were injured.
Obama also said that U.S. officials have custody of bin Laden's body.
During his televised speech, Obama addressed those who lost loved ones during the September 11 attacks and said: “We have never forgotten your loss nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.”
TV reports showed a huge crowd gathered outside the White House after Obama's speech, cheering and waving American flags. Here is a slideshow of people gathered at the White House.
A few hundred people also gathered at Ground Zero in New York to celebrate the news, the Huffington Post reports.
Former President George W. Bush called the announcement a "victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001."
"The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," Bush said in a statement, as reported by ABC News.
Former President Bill Clinton also issued a statement welcoming the achievement.
"I congratulate the President, the National Security team and the members of our armed forces on bringing Osama bin Laden to justice after more than a decade of murderous al-Qaida attacks," he said.
U.S. authorities had been looking for bin Laden for the past decade. Since the attacks in 2001, bin Laden was able to avoid capture by hiding out in the mountains of Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region.
While in hiding, bin Laden released some 30 messages, which intelligence officials believed were passed from hand to hand to avoid giving away his location. But even while in hiding, states the New York Times, bin Laden "remained a potent symbolic figure" and continued to help shape Al Qaeda's strategy.
Al Qaeda's attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon set off a chain of events that led to the invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq.
Obama used the address to reiterate that while the United States has been hunting the Al Qaeda leader in the Arab world for the past decade, and has waged wars on Afghanistan and Iraq, America is not at war with Islam or Muslims.
"We must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity."
Politico reports that Obama's comment concerning Islam seemed intended to defuse any possiblebacklash from bin Laden's admirers. The news that the killing by a U.S. operation happened in Pakistan could also lead to anti-U.S. and sovereignty-related protests in Islamabad, it states.
An obituary in the Times on Sunday night calls bin Laden "the most wanted face of terrorism."
"With the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, Bin Laden was elevated to the realm of evil in the American imagination once reserved for dictators like Hitler and Stalin. He was a new national enemy, his face on wanted posters, gloating on videotape, taunting the United States and western civilization."
Bin Laden has also been accused of being behind the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed more than 200 people.
He had been on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of the 10 most wanted fugitives.
Osama bin Laden is now a trending topic on Twitter. See what people are discussing.
Obama used the opportunity of bin Laden's death to commend the American people.
“Tonight we are once again reminded that America can do whatever it is we set our minds to," he said.
Read the full statement or watch the address below:
Bin Laden killed in Pakistan, Obama says
May 2nd, 2011
12:54 AM ET
[Updated, 1:08 a.m. ET] Crowds continue to celebrate Osama bin Laden's death at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York and outside the White House in Washington.
One of the celebrants in New York, retired New York City police officer Bob Gibson, said he knew people who died in the September 11 attacks.
"I never thought this night would come, where we would actually capture or kill bin Laden, and thank the lord, he's been eliminated, to put it politely," Gibson told CNN's Jason Carroll. "A lot of us .. gave up. But it did come, and a lot of us are overjoyed that it happened."
[Updated, 12:54 a.m. ET] CNN's Chris Lawrence, citing U.S. officials, reports that the compound where bin Laden was found - in Abbotabad, Pakistan, about 100 kilometers outside Pakistan's capital of Islamabad - was three stories tall, and about eight times larger than any of the buildings around it.
An official said a "small U.S. team" was involved in the operation at the compound - the official would not confirm any U.S. military involvement. An official said bin Laden resisted the assault - and was killed in the firefight.
Three other men were killed in the firefight, and a woman being used as a human shield was also killed, the officials said. There were no U.S. casualties, the officials said. The U.S. team was at the compound for about 40 minutes, officials said.
A U.S. helicopter crashed during the raid because of mechanical reasons, an official said. It was destroyed, the officials said.
[Updated, 12:54 a.m. ET] A senior administration official told reporters that U.S. President Barack Obama's administration did not share intelligence gathered before the attack on bin Laden in Pakistan with any other country - including Pakistan - for security reasons.
The official said that only a small group of people inside the U.S. government knew about this operation targeting Osama bin Laden in advance.
[Updated, 12:44 a.m. ET] Many hundreds of people have gathered at the former World Trade Center site in New York City, cheering news of Osama bin Laden's death.
Chants of "USA! USA!" are coming from the crowd.
"It's just the most out-of body experience to feel so involved in history, this such a historic moment for our country right now," a woman told CNN's Jason Carroll.
[Updated, 12:35 a.m. ET] The U.S. State Department warned Americans living abroad of "enhanced potential for anti-American violence" following the death of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. The announcement was made in a worldwide travel alert issued early Monday.
[Updated, 12:24 a.m. ET] A team of U.S. Navy SEALs carried out the operation in Pakistan that ended in the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, CNN's Chris Lawrence reported. The operation lasted about 40 minutes, and the team had practiced the raid a few times.
Earlier, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, citing a senior Pakistani intelligence official, reported that members of Pakistan's intelligence service - the ISI - were on site in Abbotabad, Pakistan, during the operation that killed bin Laden. The official said he did not know who fired the shot that actually killed Bin Laden.
[Updated, 12:11 a.m. ET] Members of Pakistan's intelligence service - the ISI - were on site in Abbotabad, Pakistan, during the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports, citing a senior Pakistani intelligence official. The official said he did not know who fired the shot that actually killed Bin Laden.
[Updated, 12:06 a.m. ET] The crowd celebrating bin Laden's death outside the White House has grown significantly. Lots of cheering and waving of the U.S. flag.
[Updated, 11:59 p.m. ET] - More detail on where Osama bin Laden was killed: Forces killed him at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after a firefight, U.S. President Barack Obama said.
Cooperation with Pakistan helped lead U.S. forces to Osama bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding, President Barack Obama said.
Obama said he ordered the attack after he decided last week that the United States had actionable intelligence that bin Laden was in the compound.
[Updated, 11:56 p.m. ET] U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world were placed on high alert following the announcement of Osama bin Laden's death, a senior U.S. official said. The U.S. State Department should be sending out a new "worldwide caution" for Americans shortly.
[Updated, 11:44 p.m. ET] Bin Laden was killed in a military operation in Pakistan that U.S. President Barack Obama ordered today, Obama said.
Obama said he was told last August that the United States had developed a possible lead on bin Laden - intelligence on bin Laden hiding in a compound in Pakistan. Obama said he determined last week that the United States had actionable intelligence.
"Today at my direction, the United States directed a targeted operation against that compound," Obama said.
Bin Laden was killed after a firefight, and forces took custody of his body, the president said. No Americans were harmed, Obama said.
[Updated, 11:36 p.m. ET] U.S. President Barack Obama announced Sunday night that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead.
"Tonight I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that has killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda," Obama said.
[Updated, 11:33 p.m. ET] Osama bin Laden was killed by a "U.S. military asset," according to a senior U.S. official.
Earlier, a senior U.S. official says bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad along with other family members.
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to address the nation shortly.
[Updated, 11:20 p.m. ET] A crowd that has gathered outside the White House is singing the national anthem, within an hour after reports that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been killed.
The group also chanted, "USA! USA!" and "Hey, hey, goodbye!" in reference to bin Laden.
A senior U.S. official says bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad along with other family members.
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to address the nation shortly.
[Updated, 11:15 p.m. ET] Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad along with other family members, a senior U.S. official tells CNN.
Congressional and administration sources say U.S. officials have the body of bin Laden. Further details around his death were not immediately available.
Bin Laden was the leader of al Qaeda, the terrorist network behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to address the nation shortly.
[Updated, 10:55 p.m. ET] A woman whose mother was killed on American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11 expressed "relief" over reports that Osama bin Laden is dead.
In an e-mail to CNN, Carrie Lemack said: "Cannot express how this feels to my family, but relief is one word. We hope we can now focus on all that that madman took, namely nearly 3,000 + innocent victims, and not on him."
[Updated, 10:55 p.m. ET] Osama bin Laden is dead, sources told CNN Sunday night.
Congressional and administration sources say U.S. officials have the body of bin Laden, who was reportedly killed in Afghanistan. The details about his death were not immediately available.
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to address the nation shortly.
[Updated, 10:45 p.m. ET] Osama bin Laden is dead, CNN's John King reported Sunday night, citing sources.
[Initial post, 10:09 p.m. ET] U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to make a statement Sunday night, tentatively at 10:30 p.m., the White House said. The subject of his address was not known.
Obama is expected to address national security in his speech, a source said.
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