MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Justice has been done”, said Obama announcing the killing of Bin Laden

President Obama making the dramatic announcement at the White House

Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the most devastating attack on United States soil in modern times and the most hunted man in the world, was killed in a fire-fight with US forces in Pakistan on Sunday, President Obama announced.

In a dramatic late-night early Monday appearance in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Obama declared that “justice has been done” as he disclosed that American military and CIA operatives had finally cornered the Al Qaeda leader who had eluded them for nearly a decade and shot him to death at a compound in Abbottabad, north of Islamabad, Pakistan.

“For over two decades, Bin Laden has been Al Qaeda’s leader and symbol,” the president said in a statement carried on television around the world. “The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda. But his death does not mark the end of our effort.” He added: “We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad.”

The death of Mr. Bin Laden is a defining moment in the US-led war on terrorism. What remains to be seen is whether the death of the leader of Al Qaeda galvanizes his followers by turning him into a martyr, or whether it serves as a turning of the page in the war in Afghanistan and gives further impetus to the Obama administration to bring American troops home.

The death of Bin Laden came nearly 10 years after Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four US passenger jets and crashed them into the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington and the countryside of Pennsylvania. Late Sunday night, as President Obama was speaking, cheering crowds gathered outside the gates of the White House shortly before midnight as word of his death began trickling out, waving United States flags, shouting in happiness and chanting “USA! USA!”

“This is important news for us, and for the world,” said Gordon Felt, president of the Families of Flight 93, the airliner that crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside after passengers fought with hijackers. “It cannot ease our pain, or bring back our loved ones. It does bring a measure of comfort that the mastermind of the September 11th tragedy and the face of global terror can no longer spread his evil.”

Bin Laden escaped from US troops in the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, back in 2001 and although he was widely believed to be in Pakistan, US intelligence had largely lost his trail for most of the years that followed until picking up a fresh trail last August. Mr. Obama said in his national address on Sunday night that it took months to firm up that information and last week he determined it was clear enough to authorize a secret operation in Pakistan.

The forces attacked the compound in what Mr. Obama called a “targeted operation” that left Bib Laden dead. “No Americans were harmed,” Mr. Obama said. “They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a fire-fight they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

President Obama noted that the operation that killed Mr. Bin Laden was launched with the cooperation of Pakistani officials, but the fact that Mr. Bin Laden killed in an deep inside Pakistan was bound once again to raise questions about just how much Pakistan is willing to work with the United States, since Pakistani officials denied for years that Mr. Bin Laden was in their country.

The capture of Mr. Bin Laden comes as relations between Washington and Pakistan have fallen to their lowest point in memory as differences over how to fight al Qaeda linked militants became clearer.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, publicly criticized the Pakistani military two weeks ago for failing to act against extremists allied to al Qaeda who shelter in the Pakistani tribal areas of North Waziristan.

The United States has supported the Pakistani military with nearly 20 billion USD since 9/11 for counter terrorism campaigns but US officials have complained that the Pakistanis were unable to quell the militancy.
Last week, the head of the Pakistani army, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said that Pakistan had broken the back of terrorism in the country, a statement that was received with high scepticism by US officials.

President Obama also had a message for 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”.

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.