Obama: Al Qaida head Osama bin Laden dead

   

 

       

A screen grab from FBI's Most Wanted website taken May 2, 2011 shows the status of Osama bin Laden as deceased. [Photo/Agencies]  

In photos: Osama bin Laden is dead;

Full text of Obama's speech

This video frame grab, obtained from ABC News on May 2, 2011, shows the interior bedroom in the mansion where Osama Bin Laden was killed May 1.[Photo/Agencies] 

Welcome to the live report desk of chinadaily.com.cn. Osama Bin Laden is dead. News that the world’s most wanted man, responsible for the September 11 attacks, was killed by US special forces was announced in a dramatic television address to the American people by the US President Barack Obama just before noon, Beijing time.

The momentous news is still reverberating around the world as thousands gather outside the White House and the site of the terrorist attack in New York celebrating the news. Here we will bring you the latest developments and world reaction to this breaking news story.

Latest news:

23:05

Two Obama administration officials say DNA evidence has proven that Osama bin Laden is dead, with 99.9 percent confidence.

22:40

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that strikes on al-Qaida will not end with the death of its leader Osama bin Laden. Noting that the terror group's "syndicate of terror" does not end with its leader's death, the top U.S. envoy vowed to purse relentlessly the murderers all over the world.

20:39

The U.S. special forces team that hunted down Osama bin Laden was under orders to kill the al Qaeda mastermind, not capture him, a U.S. national security official said. "This was a kill operation," the official said, making clear there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive in Pakistan.

19:50

The Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi raised doubts about the press reports on the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Monday.

19:47

U.S. and NATO officials sought to reassure Afghans on Monday that the death of Osama bin Laden will not weaken the international commitment to fighting the Taliban insurgency, even as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the strike in Pakistan shows that the fight against terrorism should focus more outside his country's borders.

19:22

A high alert was sounded and security has been tightened around the American embassy in the Indian capital Monday after al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was shot dead by U.S. forces in Pakistan.

19:09

Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, told Reuters by telephone: "Now Pakistani rulers, [Pakistani President Asif Ali] Zardari and the army will be our first targets. America will be our second target."

19:04

Palestinian militant group Hamas have condemned the killing of Bin Laden, Reuters reports, calling it the "assassination" of an "Arab holy warrior".

18:35

Sean Cassidy, whose son Ciaran was killed in the 7/7 bomb attacks in London, warned to the BBC that there are many "young pretenders" to Bin Laden's throne: "He was the spiritual leader, not a foot soldier any more. He was like a supreme being. There are plenty more willing to fill his shoes - all those fanatical organisations have their young pretenders."

18:20

Afghanistan's president lauded Osama bin Laden's death as a serious blow to terrorism on Monday and argued that the strike in Pakistan proves the real fight against terrorists is outside his country's borders.

17:20

The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, have issued this joint statement cited on the BBC: "Osama bin Laden was a criminal responsible for heinous terrorist attacks that cost the lives of thousands of innocent people. His death makes the world a safer place and shows that such crimes do not remain unpunished."

17:08

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that elements of al-Qaeda were "still in business". He said: "We will still have to be vigilant, even more vigilant, in the coming days about the international terrorist threat.

17:01

Sohaib Athar, an IT consultant living in Abbottabad, discovered on Monday that he had live-tweeted the fatal raid on Osama bin Laden's compound by acccident, The Guardian reports.

Athar, who lives near the Jalal Baba Auditorium - about 250m from bin Laden's compound - put out his first tweet relating to the attack at about 9pm on Sunday BST, or 1am local time, when he noticed a helicopter hovering overhead: "a rare event", he commented.

That was followed by "A huge window-shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope it's not the start of something nasty."

16:32

Japan's Self-Defense Forces will raise the alert level at bases across the country following the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who Washington said had been killed by the U.S. forces in Pakistan.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told a new conference Monday that the decision was made to guard against any possible reprisals.

16:23

Russia on Monday praised the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in Pakistan as a "serious success" and vowed there would be no escape for global terrorists.

16:18

The US offered to send Osama's body to his country of birth, Saudi Arabia. But the Saudis refused to accept it, according to CBS News.

16:14

The death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden will not remove the threat of terrorism and the West must be vigilant for revenge attacks, France and Britain said on Monday as they hailed his killing by U.S. forces.

15:44

Haji Mullah, the commander of Taliban operations in the three southern provinces of Kandahar, Uruzgan and Helmand, has just told the Guardian that bin Laden's death changes nothing.

"When other high ranking Talib commanders like Osmani and Dadullah were killed it didn't really affect our movements or operations. This kind of operation doesn't make us weaker it makes us stronger and more determined."

15:39

Fox News reports Bin laden's body was buried at sea in the last 90 minutes quoting a US official.

15:30

US TV network MSNBC reports US officials have confirmed that Osama bin Laden's body has been buried at sea.

15:30

The Palestinian Authority said the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces was "good for the cause of peace" - Reuters reports.

15:30

Speaking at live televised news conference, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban to end its violence after the killing of Osama bin Laden: "The Taliban must learn a lesson from this. The Taliban should refrain from fighting."

15:25

Local TV channels in Pakistan say two women, who were brought out from inside the compound where bin Laden was killed, were taken to local hospitals in critical condition. Both were of Arab origin. One is said to have later died in hospital.

15:15

The UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is on a visit to Egypt, has congratulated the US on "ending the reign of terror of Osama bin Laden himself". "There couldn't be a greater contrast between what we've seen here in Tahrir Square, people aspiring for democratic change, for peaceful change in the Arab world... and the destructive and murderous approach of al-Qaeda," according to BBC.

15:00

The US plans to bury Osama bin Laden's body at sea, to avoid his grave site becoming a focus as Saddam Hussain's grave has become in Iraq, the Guardian reports.

14:54

A spokesman for a human rights organization told the BBC: "Osama bin Laden will never again be responsible for mass atrocities such as the September 11 attacks. His death should also bring an end to a horrific chapter of human rights abuses in the name of counterterrorism."

14:52

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has started a live news conference. Comments to follow

14:49

Prominent Pakistani opposition politician Imran Khan has said on Pakistan's Dunya TV that bin Laden's death ought to mark the end of US military operations in Pakistan, BBC Monitoring reports. "I feel that now that they have killed [him], there remains no justification for this war," he said.

14:33

Mullah Zaeef, former Taliban ambassador to Islamabad told the BBC, " Osama's killing will not help the ongoing situation for Afghans, I don't think it will do much in the Afghan case, Afghan( peace) needs more efforts."

14:30

Egyptian-born doctor and surgeon Ayman al-Zawahri is al Qaeda's No. 2 leader and likely to succeed bin Laden, Reuters reports.

14:20

US forces who conducted the raid used facial-recognition technology to confirm that suspect was indeed bin Laden, CNN reports.

14:11

While Bin Laden's death is "good for the United States reputation, power and influence", his killing "does not end Al Qaeda", cautions Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times. He says Bin Laden's death "might have mattered more in 2002 or 2003", when "many ordinary people had a very high regard for Bin Laden and doubted that he was centrally involved in the 9/11 attacks".

14:08

US Senator John McCain has issued a statement quoted by the Guardian saying: "I hope the families of the victims of the September 11th attacks will sleep easier tonight and every night hence knowing that justice has been done. I commend the President and his team, as well as our men and women in uniform and our intelligence professionals, for this superb achievement."

14:05

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga has told the BBC World Service that he welcomes news of the death of Osama Bin Laden - who was linked to a bomb attack on the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998. "It's a major achievement in the war against terrorism", Mr Odinga said.

13:38

US President Obama made decision to undertake raid operation at 8:20am on Friday (29 April) before leaving for Alabama, CBS reports.

13:29

The executive director of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikkow, told the BBC how he had witnessed a spontaneous gathering of people at Ground Zero in New York: "We take a great deal of satisfaction in the news that Bin Laden has been brought to justice.

Hundreds of people are gathering spontaneously in the night, just coming from all over the neighbourhood to share the moment of relief that the original architect of that giant mass murder has actually been tracked down in the heart of Pakistan." 

13:26

A BBC reporter in Pakistan says the Afghan Taliban have confirmed the death of Osama Bin Laden.

13:23

An administration briefing revealed that the CIA had been following the so-called "couriers" – a pair of brothers – for years, but only two years ago found where they lived, in the town of Abbotabad 35 miles outside Islamabad, the Guardian reports

The group lived in a large compound built in 2005, with 12ft high walls, few windows, and with no phones or internet connection in an effort to avoid detection. As well as the brothers, a family was living inside that matched the profile of bin Laden's.

13:03

Extraordinary scenes are being beamed around the world on TV as thousands of people gather outside Times Square and Ground Zero, New York City, and outside the gates of the White House, to celebrate the news of Bin Laden's death.

12:58

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Bin Laden's death is a "resounding triumph for democratic nations fighting terrorism" - Reuters reports.

12:47

Four people including Bin Laden were killed in the operation, AFP reports.

12:44

US official says Bin Laden's body is being handled according to Islamic practice and tradition, Reuters reports.

12:42

US State Department is warning of greater risk of anti-American violence following bin Laden's death and their citizens abroad should avoid unecessary travel, Reuters reports.

12:40

British Prime Minister David Cameron says the news of Osama Bin Laden's death will "bring great relief to people across the world," BBC reports

12:40

US embassies on alert of reprisal attacks after bin Laden death.

12:38

Stocks around the world rise after news of Bin Laden's death, oil slides, Reuters reports.

12:30

US has just issued a worldwide travel alert, Reuters reports.

12:30

Former US President George W Bush has called the death of Bin Laden a "momentous achievement". He said in a statement reported by the BBC: "The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done."