BW Communities

Osama Bin Laden Dead: US Sources

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed Sunday in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan and his body was recovered, President Barack Obama announced Sunday. Earlier, the news of the death of the Al-Qaeda founder and leader Osama Bin Laden had spread like wildfire quoting US surces. Osama killed in a ground operation in Pakistan on Sunday. "Justice has been done," Obama said in a dramatic, late-night White House speech announcing the death of the elusive mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the New York and Washington. Obama said U.S. forces led the operation that killed bin Laden. No Americans were killed in the operation and they took care to avoid civilian casualties, he said. "The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda and a terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of men, women and children," Obama said. It is a major accomplishment for Obama and his national security team, after many Americans had given up hope of ever finding bin Laden. A crowd gathered outside the White House to celebrate, chanting, "USA, USA." Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, had repeatedly vowed to bring bin Laden to justice "dead or alive" for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people, but never did before leaving office in early 2009. U.S. officials said that after searching in vain for the al Qaeda leader since he disappeared in Afghanistan in late 2001, the Saudi-born extremist was killed in the Pakistani town of Abbotabad and his body recovered. Having the body may help convince any doubters that bin Laden is really dead. He had been the subject of a search since he eluded U.S. soldiers and Afghan militia forces in a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan in 2001. The trail quickly went cold after he disappeared and many intelligence officials believed he had been hiding in Pakistan. While in hiding, bin Laden had taunted the West and advocated his militant Islamist views in videotapes spirited from his hideaway. Besides September 11, Washington has also linked bin Laden to a string of attacks -- including the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 bombing of the warship USS Cole in Yemen. Stocks Up, Crude Slips Asian stocks rose on Monday and US stock index futures extended gains on the back of media reports that Osama bin Laden was dead. US crude slid more than 1 percent to $112.51 a barrel after CNN reported that Al Qaeda's elusive leader Osama bin Laden was dead and his body has been recovered by US authorities. US stock index futures rose 0.9 per cent and MSCI's gauge of Asian stocks excluding Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2 percent. U.S. Treasuries fell, pushing yields higher across the curve. The 10-year yield climbed 2.4 basis points to 3.314 percent. (Agencies)