In her remarks to the National Conference of Editorial Writers, Clinton said the State Department is now working on a narrative “that will convince people he was a murderer, not a martyr,” and that bin Laden murdered more Muslims than anyone else.

“He was a mass killer of Muslims,” she said.

Noting that bin Laden had tremendous sway with so many impressionable people in many parts of the world, Clinton said the US is already seeing something of an effort by the al-Qaeda remnants to decide who comes next.

People chant anti-US slogans during a rally to condemn the killing of Osama bin Laden, in Multan. (Photo: AP)

“Any succession crisis provides an opportunity. A lot of people say al-Zawahiri will step into it. But that’s not so clear. He doesn’t have the same sense of loyalty or inspiration or track record,” Clinton said.

“So I think his death, his removal from the leadership, along with two very important points that need to be remembered is that Taliban did not give up al-Qaeda when President (George) Bush asked them to after 9/11, because of Mullah Omar’s personal relationship with bin Laden. That’s gone, so I think it opens up possibilities for dealing with the Taliban that did not exist before,” she hoped.

Clinton said the effort to stop al-Qaeda and its syndicate of terror will not end with the death of bin Laden.

“In Afghanistan, we have to continue to take the fight to al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies. Perhaps now they will take seriously the work that we are doing on trying to have some reconciliation process that resolves the insurgency,” she said.

Responding to questions, Clinton said there’s no doubt that al-Qaeda is somewhat decentralized, but that bin Laden remained the brains behind the operation and the inspiration.

“He was the person who people pledged loyalty to when they joined al-Qaeda. It wasn’t to an organization; it was to an individual,” she said.

“So our message to the Taliban hasn’t changed; it just has even greater resonance today. They can’t wait us out, they can’t defeat us; they need to come into the political process and denounce al-Qaeda and renounce violence and agree to abide by the laws and constitution of Afghanistan,” Clinton said.

“We have a very close relationship with Pakistan, and it was crucial in finally leading us to bin Laden. So the work that was done over many years had many contributors, including our partners in Pakistan,” Clinton said in her remarks on Monday, according to the transcripts provided by the State Department today.

“We’re going to be working to bolster our partnerships even now, particularly as people are digesting this news. We’re going to look for ways to put this into the context of the larger debate we’re having here at home about what it takes to stay engaged in the world,” she said.

Source: IE

But “forgiveness doesn’t mean forget what happened. If something is serious and it is necessary to take counter-measures, you have to take counter-measures,” a report in the Los Angeles Times quoted the Tibetan leader as saying in response to a question about the death of bin Laden.

A separate statement on the Dalai Lama’s website explained further what the Tibetan leader had said at USC on Tuesday when asked whether in some situation ensuring justice is more important than being compassionate to the perpetrator of a crime.

In his response, the Dalai Lama “emphasized the need to find a distinction between the action and the actor.”

He said in the case of bin Laden, “his action was of course destructive and the September 11 events killed thousands of people. So his action must be brought to justice.”

The Tibetan leader added that with the actor one must have compassion and a sense of concern.

“Therefore the counter measure, no matter what form it takes, has to be compassionate action.”

Referring to the basis of the practice of forgiveness, the Dalai Lama said that it, however, did not mean that one should forget what has been done.

His speech at USC was titled ‘Secular Ethics, Human Values and Society’.

I switched on the T.V. on Monday morning to get news of Arunachal’s C.M.(he is dead now) and saw some breaking news flashing, I did not notice at first as every news these days is ‘breaking news’. This news was really big though!

World’s most wanted or America’s most wanted man was dead. I was neither happy nor sad; indifferent would be a better word to explain how I felt. After ten years of manhunt and killing of five thousand American soldiers and more than a million civilians the corpse of Osama was not worth it.

Conspiracy theories are doing the rounds as no photo of the dead body has been released by the U.S. army and the only photo circulated on the net was declared a ‘fake’.

The mood around the world was euphoric especially in the States. But he was grieved too in certain pockets of the world. Grieving for a ‘terrorist’ is totally unacceptable but is celebrating someone’s death in consonance with the ethos of a civilized society? There are many questions before us. Will terrorism end with Osama? Will the U.S. stop the so called ‘war on terror’ and will we see a change in its policy? Will terrorism end if oppressions in Chechnya, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. continue? The answer to all these questions is an emphatic NO!

The U.S. may stop the war on terror but it will continue to meddle in the affairs of other countries in the name of liberating them from despots and restoring democracy. American involvement in the world affairs started with the Second World War when it destroyed an entire generation of Japanese and justified the use of atom bombs because it ended the war early when everyone knew that Japan will surrender within weeks. The idea was to show their might and to declare to the world that ‘they have arrived.’ It was a vengeance for Pearl Harbor. The American meddling does not end here; and from Vietnam, Afghanistan to Iraq under the guise of one thing or the other it pursued its narrow interests.

America’s love for democracy was so profound that the even killed a head of the state, read Saddam Hussain to force a regime change and now they are after the head of Qaddafi. And how can one forget the CIA sponsored coup in Iran that deposed democratically elected government of Mossadegh and brought Shah Phalavi back to throne! I wonder that if the powerful countries are tried for war crimes then from Senior Bush to Obama every one will be executed for war crimes. They test their bombs to drones in these wars at the cost of thousands of civilian lives.

The killing of Osama was as dramatic and filmy as was his life. He was killed barely eight hundred meters from the military base.  I believe that it was a deal hatched between the ISI and the American authorities because the stakes were very high on Osama’s head. However, both parties have so far denied any collusion.

Win-win for all: Barack Obama now stands a good chance for re-election as suddenly his popularity has sky rocketed. America wanted to pull its forces from Afghanistan, buckling under pressure, from its people and an economy which is struggling to recover from recession. As America wanted to end the war on terror it no longer needed the face of Osama to be pursued. The Americans could not have pulled without sealing the fate of Osama as it would have been embarrassing not to; after fighting for ten years, spending trillions of dollars and sacrificing five thousand soldiers. Now is the perfect time to pull out their forces.

Americans are saying that the operation was fully carried by American commandos as a face saving attempt and to send home a message so what if they could not catch Osama for a decade they are capable of killing him in the cantonment area of another country even without their help.

Such a big operation in a military area seems unlikely without the knowledge and help of Pakistani forces. They are in a tight spot as they cannot claim that they helped in Osama’s killing fearing a backlash from the fundamentalists in the country. They cannot claim ignorance of the operation because it would be very embarrassing as it would reaffirm the belief that Pakistan is a ‘safe haven’ for terrorists and raise doubts about the competence of security agencies.

There was immense pressure on Pakistan to act and Osama had become a burden on the ISI and the army with his failing health and the high cost for his security and upkeep; more so in a country which lives on U.S. grants. Pakistan is also worried about India’s growing influence in Afghanistan and wants to limit it to the minimal. A happy and content America can help Pakistan in reducing India’s role in Afghanistan.

Overall the whole episode looks like some action sequence from a Hollywood blockbuster of Arnie or Stallone and many a film makers will be inspired and raring to capture the real in the reel.

I must admit a spent force like Osama could not have been put to a better use. All win no loss. Both America and Pakistan will politicize the issue to their advantage and their love hate relationship will continue in the years to come.

Under this changed scenario and after Pakistan has been exposed India is increasing the demand to bring the 26/11 plotters to justice as they too are believed to be in Pakistan. We must not forget that it was America’s war to which we had extended support as an unwelcome alley. Americans have ditched us time and again for Pakistan because an unstable country as an alley serves their purpose well rather than a thriving democracy. We cannot do away with putting the gun on someone else shoulder and if we are really serious about curbing terrorism then we must take the bull by its horns rather than waiting for someone else to tame it. The repercussions of the development will be seen in coming months and it would be premature to say anything now.

Saiful Islam is a Delhi based social worker and can be reached at saif@pleango.org

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect BH’s editorial policy.

Digvijay Singh

However, party spokesman Manish Tewari parried questions on whether Singh’s remark on Laden’s burial is the official party view. “On the question of Laden and terror per say, we have repeatedly cleared our position. “The position of Congress has been very clearly articulated and delineated. We have nothing further to say on the articulation on the neutralisation of Laden after what we said yesterday,” he said. Tewari said, “If you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind” , adding that he was making this observation in relation to all terrorists and terrorist organizations. Incidentally, Singh met Congress president Sonia Gandhi triggering a speculation that he had been summoned. However, the senior leader denied that he had been summoned or even ticked off for his remarks.

Speaking to reporters he said, “I met the Congress president but it was not on this issue. There was no discussion on my statement.” The party general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh had spoken on the issue after a book release function on Monday at India Islamic Centre . Singh was asked about his views on reports of US burying the al-Qaeda leader at sea in the north Arabian Sea so that his burial site does not become a shrine of sorts. Singh told reporters, “however big a criminal one might be, his religious traditions should be respected while burying him.”

The party source said the high command wants all leaders to observe caution while commenting over such internationally sensitive issues, especially at a time when the Opposition is likely to increase pressure on the Government to stop all talks with Pakistan. A senior leader told ET, that the party disagrees and disapproves of the general secretary’s remarks . Singh, however, said, “my statement has been wrongly interpreted. I stand by it.” The remarks, which were interpreted as a criticism of US technique, are being seen as an attempt to woo the minority vote bank ahead of UP Assembly polls in 2012. Singh’s political positioning on terror issues has been consistent as he had questioned the Batla House shootout, involving the Indian Mujahideen , and had demanded a judicial inquiry .

He had also met the relatives of those arrested or killed in the encounter in Azamgarh. Later, he triggered another controversy when he said that two hours before the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, slain Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare had spoken to him and expressed fear that his life was in danger as he was inquiring into role of Hindu outfits in terror strikes. Singh attracted Opposition ire as BJP said the Congress leader was giving Pakistan a clean chit in 26/11 attacks.

He died 102 years ago in Oklahoma, a beaten warrior, a prisoner of war, an exile from his homeland, a propped-up sideshow, a gambler and a lukewarm Christian. His family was murdered by Mexicans. The Americans stripped him of most everything else.

And yet, the Apache born near the Gila River in present-day Arizona with the not-very-impressive name of Goyahkla (“One Who Yawns”) rode into history as the legendary Geronimo.

It was his name that the U.S. military chose as the code for the raid, and perhaps for Osama bin Laden himself, during the operation that killed the al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan. That led to the iconic transmission from the raid: “Geronimo EKIA.” Geronimo, Enemy Killed in Action.

In a triumphant moment for the United States, the moniker has left a sour taste among many Native Americans.

“I was celebrating that we had gotten this guy and feeling so much a part of America,” Tom Holm, a former Marine, a member of the Creek/Cherokee Nations and a retired professor of American Indian studies at the University of Arizona, said by phone Tuesday. “And then this ‘Geronimo EKIA’ thing comes up. I just said, ‘Why pick on us?’ Robert E. Lee killed more Americans than Geronimo ever did, and Hitler would seem to be evil personified, but the code name for bin Laden is Geronimo?”

Suzan Shown Harjo, president of the Morning Star Institute, a Native American advocacy group based in Washington, has long fought against the use of Indian imagery in American life (including as the mascot of the Washington Redskins).

FBI-listed "Most Wanted Terrorists” Jaber al-Banna (also known as Jaber Elbaneh). Photo: Khaled Abdullah / Reuters

She sighed when asked about the latest iteration of Geronimo.

“It’s how deeply embedded the ‘Indian as enemy’ is in the collective mind of America,” she said. “To this day, when soldiers are going into enemy territory, it’s common for it to be called ‘Indian country.’ ”

It isn’t clear yet which branch of the military came up with the nickname — the Army, Navy, CIA or any of the anti-terror special forces groups involved in planning the raid — but it apparently wasn’t bin Laden’s nickname for very long.

A database search of news stories shows that, while military leaders sometimes compared bin Laden’s elusiveness to Geronimo’s, there is no news account of calling the al-Qaeda leader “Geronimo” until this past weekend.

But the Apache leader’s name has often been used in the name for projects in Afghanistan, such as the Marine Forward Operating Base Geronimo in the Helmand province, reports show.

Military code names and nicknames have a long history, dating to when written or radio transmissions could be easily intercepted, and thus the name for a secret language that only some people involved in a particular operation would understand.

But not all code names and nicknames have been loaded terms, even when the stakes were high. The plan to build the atomic bomb (the Manhattan Project) resulted in two atomic bombs (“Little Boy” and “Fat Man”) being dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped the bombs was nicknamed “Enola Gay,” after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, Paul Tibbets.

The U.S. military now has strict formats for official code names and nicknames for designated targets, but the results are sometimes more goofy than intimidating.

“Operation Red Dawn,” for example, the campaign that led to the capture of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, gave all the appearances of being inspired by a campy 1984 film in which teenagers fight to save the United States from a Soviet invasion.

The 19th-century U.S. Army campaign to apprehend Geronimo and stop his raids on settlers did become famous, particularly in military circles, because he eluded capture for more than a decade. By the time of his surrender in Arizona in 1886, more than 5,000 troops had participated in the hunt to track him down.

After years of degradation, included being trotted out by whites as an example of the Wild West, he died in Oklahoma in 1909. He was buried in a prisoner-of-war camp.

“There is little doubt [the] use of a leader like Geronimo to refer to bin Laden is ill-advised,” Keith Harper, a partner at the D.C. firm of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton and a member of the Cherokee Nation, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. Harper represented the plaintiff class of 500,000 individual Indians in the landmark Indian trust funds lawsuit, which last year settled its claims against the U.S. government for $3.4 billion. He was also the principal adviser and chair of the Native American Domestic Policy Committee for the Obama campaign.

“No one would find acceptable calling this arch-terrorist by code name Man­dela, Revere or Ben-Gurion,” Harper wrote. “An extraordinary Native leader and American hero deserves no less.”

Source: The Washington Post

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan, May 3 (Xinhua) — The death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan demanded critics who termed Pakistan a safe heaven for al-Qaeda members in the past to change their views as this heaven has been proven as the hunting cage of al-Qaida’s top leadership, Pakistanis said on Tuesday.

People talking to Xinhua showed their deep concerns over the behavior of Western media to Pakistan in war against terrorism. ” We have lost thousands of our innocent people and billions of dollar assets in this war but even then they are negative about our role,”said a resident in Abbottabad, the city where bin Laden was killed.

Osama, al-Qaida’s founder and chief, was the latest one of the eight al-Qaida leaders killed or arrested in Pakistan since the 9/ 11 incident, the attack that left over 3,000 people dead in New York and also triggered U.S.-led war against Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

Osama bin Laden was killed on Monday morning in a direct U.S. army operation in Abbottabad, a cantonment district with a population of over 800,000 some 100 kilometers away from capital Islamabad.

Here are the details about the other top al-Qaida leaders, who were hounded in Pakistan.

Seven months after the 9/11 the first top al-Qaida member arrested from Pakistan was a Saudi Arabian national Abu Zubaydah. Pakistani secret intelligence and American FBI, in a joint operation, raided a house in March 2002 in Faisal Town area of country’s industrial city of Faisalabad and arrested him injured.

Zubaydah was considered as the integral part of the al-Qaida as being the close aid to bin Laden and in-charge of communications in international operations. He has been in U.S. custody since arrest.

In September 2002, another al-Qaida leader Ramzi bin al-Shibh was also traced and arrested by the Pakistani security agencies from its southern coastal city of Karachi. Shibh is a detainee at Guantanamo Bay as an accused of being the facilitator of 9/11 attacks, and suspect of attacking and destruction of American warship USS Cool in 1998.

The arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of the al-Qaeda’s top four characters, in March 2003 from Islamabad’s adjacent city of Rawalpindi was the highest profile success of the time.

The highest importance of 25 million dollar head money man was measured when former U.S. President J.W. Bush announced his arrest and said U.S. has got the mastermind of 9/11 attacks.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the suspect of planning of attacks on U. S. embassy in Kenya in 1998, was handed over to America after Pakistani forces arrested him from the country’s eastern border city of Gujrat in July 2004.

In May 2005, Pakistani forces succeeded to arrest al-Qaida number three leader Abu Faraj al-Libi, the in-charge of al-Qaida in Pakistan and allegedly responsible of attacks at Pakistan’s then president Pervez Musharraf. Both Pakistan and U.S. had announced head money for his arrest.

In 2008, American forces raised the number of drone strikes in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas to hunt the al-Qaida militants.

Abu Lais al-Libi was the first-ever al-Qaida’s main commander who was hit by the drone missile in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region of North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, during the last week of January of 2008.

In May 2010, al-Qaida had to face a big loss when a missile fired from the pilotless U.S. drone killed its senior most leader Mustafa Al Yazid in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas. He appeared as the in-charge of operations in Afghanistan, and the number three in rank after the death of Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri following Osama and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Today, the face of terror was removed from the minds of Americans by the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy Seals. As announced in a speech by President Obama, justice has been done not because Americans valued wealth or power but the values that make them. The values of  liberty and justice for all. The sense of retribution and the gulps of emotion at ground zero following the remembrance of terror strike of 9/11 had been avenged. The service and lives of those who died fighting the war on terror was not forgotten, and all peace loving people should welcome such a news.

The US war was against Al-Qa’ida and not Islam. Muslims had also become Osama’s victims. The celebrations were for a victory of justice and peace. The message was loud and clear, the days of terrorism were coming to an end with most people took a deep breath of relieve rather than peace. Nonetheless what remains is universal recognition of these values by President Obama for everyone affected.

One of the first questions that is set to become controversial among Muslims is the hurried manner in disposal of Osama’s body. Officials of the US administration claim some resistance was put up by the leader who was shot in the head, he apparently did not die and was shot again. From the pictures released, it is difficult to understand how the mattress is blood spot free yet the floor under the bed and carpet are heavily stained. The body was identified by the Navy Seals, members of his family living in the compound and a DNA test was apparently conducted through a sample collected from the brain of his dead sister. It is difficult to see how the body could be tested and flown 400 miles to sea in a couple of hours.

By afternoon, Pakistan TV channels were showing the bloody face of a body claiming it to be Bin Laden’s. These were later refuted to be constructed, and US officials said that the images were too bloody to be displayed. By one in the afternoon, the officials said: “We are ensuring that it is handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition. This is something that we take very seriously and therefore, this is being handled in an appropriate manner.” What these rituals were is unknown. Unconvincing, the body was washed according to Islamic rituals aboard an aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, taken in a boat and dropped in the north Arabian sea. What the administration meant by Islamic rituals was a burial in 24 hours. It is indeed true that a body is best buried early but in mother earth and not sea many need more evidence.

Several Islamic scholars have come forward with their opinion on the matter. Bin Laden’s burial at sea “runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs,” said Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar mosque, highest seat of Islamic learning, said.

Omar Bakri Mohammed, a radical cleric in Lebanon, said: “The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don’t think this is in the interest of the US administration.” Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai’s grand mufti, said: “They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam.” He further said: “If the family does not want him, it was not an issue. The burial in Islam is really very simple. You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, say prayers and that’s it. Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances, and this situation was not one of them.”

“What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims,” said another Islamic scholar from Iraq, Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad’s famous Abu Hanifa mosque. “It is not acceptable, and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim into the sea. The body of Bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country or land to bury him,’ he said.

The official defense was to prevent a shrine built to honor him like the one built for Saddam Hussain for his followers. Another claim is the refusal of Saudi authorities to take his body in spite of his Saudi nationality. Osama was killed many times before most notably in December 2001 too, but he has remained in the minds of the people for whatever be the reason. Was it too much to bury him in an unknown grave for a clean and clear end? Does the body of a ‘terrorist’ not require dignity and identification? Are such ‘terrorists’ not even worth a trial in the International Court of Justice like Slobodon Milosovich of Bosnian ethnic cleansing fame? Perhaps, the US record has not been clean with the Guntanomo Bay record.

Does anyone at this stage bother about a country’s sovereignty been violated, Pakistan’s? Afghanistan was invaded by the US forces without a formal declaration till date. Such new tactical wars violate the country’s sovereignty, and all international norms need a check on US violations. Pakistan was a sitting duck in the game played on its soil. On the contrary, we saw how thousands of civilians were killed by the government forces without an immediate humanitarian intervention in Libya.The values of liberty , justice and equality belong to all and not the exclusive domain of a single country.

(Amnah can be contacted at amnah@beyondheadlines.in)

With one spectacular attack on September 11, 2001, Osama Bin Laden put terror on the global agenda of the 21st century – and became a household name around the world.

As the world watched live on television, his Al Qaida militants flattened New York’s World Trade Center, a devastating blow to the United States he loathed, and one that would have repercussions in every corner of the planet.

Nearly a decade after that attack, President Barack Obama on Sunday announced bin Laden’s death, saying he was killed at his hideout in Pakistan and that US authorities had taken custody of his body.

This file photo taken in 1989 shows Osama bin Laden (centre) walking with Afghanis in the Jalalabad area.

Saudi-born militant

The Saudi-born militant believed the carnage in 2001 – which left nearly 3,000 people dead – had been aided by God. Just as he had hoped, the hijacked planes that crashed into the Twin Towers as well as Washington and Pennsylvania ushered in a dramatic era of confrontation between the West and militants.

Though the attack made him the world’s most wanted man, and forced him into hiding, it served as inspiration for a global jihadist movement that would grow far beyond any need for his guiding hand.

From the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the 2005 attacks on London’s transport system to the emboldened militants of Pakistan, much in the modern world seemed to flow from that one fateful Tuesday in America.

‘End of the United States’

“We say that the end of the United States is imminent, whether Bin Laden or his followers are alive or dead,” he said in a videotape message just four months after the attack. “The awakening of the Muslim ummah [people] has occurred.”

There was little early sign the soft-spoken Bin Laden, reckoned to have dozens of brothers and sisters in his vast and wealthy family, would one day be synonymous with global terror.

Born in Riyadh in 1957, exact date unknown, he was tall even as a youngster and stood about six-foot five as an adult.

Engineering degree

He took an engineering degree in 1975 and, though later remembered by those who knew him as always pious, his serious transformation took place four years later. The year 1979 was a watershed for many young Muslims – the Iranian revolution, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel all helped radicalise a generation of frustrated believers.

Afghanistan became the first focus of his newfound idealism.

Inspired by the initial Muslim resistance to the Russian occupation, Bin Laden started raising funds and recruiting fighters from across the Islamic world.

In 1984 he moved to the Pakistani city of Peshawar, a staging point for mainly Arab militants who – funded by the United States and Saudi Arabia, his future foes – fought jihad against the Soviets.

Soft-spoken gentleman

Stories abounded of the soft-spoken gentleman who visited the militant camps, spreading his largesse and encouraging weary fighters to press on with the battle.

“One day in Afghanistan is like one thousand days in an ordinary mosque,” Bin Laden said.

The eventual defeat and departure of the mighty Soviet army was seen as a glorious victory, and persuaded Bin Laden not to disband the network of financiers and recruits ready to fight for Islam.

Instead, he soon found another cause to rally round back in Saudi Arabia, where the kingdom’s rulers had allowed in US troops after Saddam Hussain’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. His criticism of the monarchy was so bitter that he was expelled and his citizenship revoked.

Four wives, 10 children

Bin Laden then took his four wives and 10 children to Sudan, where a regime that was fighting an internal war against Christian and animist rebels was more than happy to welcome him.

In five years there he consolidated the operations of his group – dubbed Al Qaida, or The Base – and joined forces with Ayman Al Zawahiri, an Egyptian militant who became his deputy and later the “public face” of the organization.

Bin Laden left Sudan in 1996, around the same time that Western intelligence agencies began to link Al Qaida to attacks on US forces in Saudi Arabia and the failed Somalia operation recalled in “Black Hawk Down”.

His next stop was Afghanistan, where he found another group of supporters in the hardline Taliban.

Bin Laden provided cash and fighters as the Taliban imposed their strict version of Islam on the country. In exchange, they let him run the training camps that would turn militant Islam into a global force to be reckoned with.

20,000 militants

According to the official US 9/11 inquiry, the CIA estimated that as many as 20,000 militants trained in the camps before September 11. In a 1997 interview with CNN, one of the few times he met Western reporters, Bin Laden clearly stated his goals for all the world to hear.

“We declared jihad against the US government, because the US government is unjust, criminal and tyrannical,” he said.

Peter Arnett, one of the journalists who conducted that interview, asked what Bin Laden’s plans were. “You’ll see them and hear about them in the media, God willing,” he replied.

The world saw and heard on August 7, 1998, in Al Qaida’s first major international attack.

Truck bombs

Powerful truck bombs outside the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, most of them Africans and many of them Muslims. Only 12 Americans were killed.

The US inquiry revealed that US authorities then considered air strikes on Afghanistan, where he was believed to be hiding, at least three times in 1998 and 1999 – but each time top US officials opted against. As one CIA official wrote: “We may well come to regret the decision not to go ahead.”

Two years later, the September 11 attacks killed 2,739 people in New York, 189 people at the Pentagon and 40 passengers and crew on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania.

The suicide operation was masterminded by Khalid Shaikh Mohammad – who became one of the most famous of the US prisoners at Guantanamo Bay – but had been personally approved by Bin Laden, who selected the attackers.

As he had predicted, the United States struck back.

US-led invasion

After the Taliban refused to hand Bin Laden over, a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban from power.

But a massive manhunt for bin Laden, who had a bounty of 25 million dollars on his head, proved fruitless.

In the punishing mountain terrain along the Afghan and Pakistan border that had also defeated the Soviets, he could not be found.

Whether he would be captured and killed or not, Bin Laden had fulfilled his life’s mission on 9/11 – galvanising militants worldwide.

After the US invasion of Iraq, and widespread feeling that the war would not succeed in fighting “terrorism”, some high-profile analysts stepped forward to challenge what had become the popular view of Bin Laden.

Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA unit dedicated to tracking Bin Laden, argued that he had not been fighting the West in general but instead was at war with US policies – on Israel and Iraq – that had angered Muslims.

“The United States and its policies and actions are Bin Laden’s only indispensable allies,” Scheuer wrote in his book “Imperial Hubris”.

Some critics within militant circles believed September 11 had been a strategic disaster. It led to the loss of the training camps in Afghanistan, brought down the Taliban and put the United States on high alert – making future operations much more difficult to carry out.

But once the United States launched the war in Iraq in 2005, that perception largely changed. The Iraq invasion rallied untold numbers of new jihadist fighters to the cause, and the country proved an ideal training ground for militants to hone their skills against the most well-equipped army in the world.

Some of the techniques developed there – in particular the perfection of makeshift bombs or IEDs – would soon be carried to Afghanistan and other theatres of jihad.

During his years on the run, Bin Laden would have seen how his beliefs had caught fire with young and often angry idealists around the globe. “Jihad will continue,” he said not long after September 11. “Even if I am not around.”

(Courtesy: Gulf News)

Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation… they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against al-Qaeda.

Tonight, we give thanks to the counter intelligence officials who have tirelessly worked, we give thanks to the men who carried out this operation.

Finally, let me say to the families, we have not forgotten your loss, today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country.

Tonight we are once again reminded that American can do whatever we set our mind to … we can do these things not because of wealth and power but because of who we are.

“]

Americans celebrate outside the White House after hearing the news of bin Laden's death [Reuters

The death of bin Laden is a “major setback to terrorist organisations around the world”.

“This operation was conducted by the US Forces in accordance with declared US policy that Osama bin Laden will be eliminated in a direct action by the US forces, wherever found in the world.”

Yousuf Raza Gilani – Pakistani prime minister

We will not allow our soil to be used against any other country for terrorism and therefore I think it’s a great victory, it’s a success and I congratulate the success of this operation.

Hamid Karzai – Afghan president

The killing of bin Laden is very “important news”.

The Taliban must learn a lesson from this. The Taliban should refrain from fighting.

The war against terrorism is in its sources, in its financial sources, its sanctuaries, in its training bases, not in Afghanistan

George W. Bush – former US president

This momentous achievement marks 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.

Michael Bloomberg – New York City mayor

The killing of Osama bin Laden does not lessen the suffering that New Yorkers and Americans experienced at his hands, but it is a critically important victory for our nation – and a tribute to the millions of men and women in our armed forces and elsewhere who have fought so hard for our nation.

New Yorkers have waited nearly 10 years for this news. It is my hope that it will bring some closure and comfort to all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001

Raymond Kelly – New York police commissioner

Killing of Osama bin Laden a “welcome milestone” for the families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

David Cameron – British prime minister

Osama bin Laden was responsible for the worst terrorist atrocities the world has seen — for 9/11 and for so many attacks, which have cost thousands of lives, many of them British. It is a great success that he has been found and will no longer be able to pursue his campaign of global terror.

The news that Osama bin Laden is dead will bring great relief to people across the world.

Benjamin Netanyahu – Israeli prime minister

This is a resounding triumph for justice, freedom and the values shared by all democratic nations fighting shoulder to shoulder in determination against terrorism.

The state of Israel joins together in the joy of the American people after the liquidation of bin Laden.

Ghassan Khatib – Palestine Authority spokesperson

Getting rid of Bin Laden is good for the cause of peace worldwide but what counts is to overcome the discourse and the methods – the violent methods – that were created and encouraged by bin Laden and others in the world.

P. Chidambaram – Indian home minister

We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which (US) President Obama said that the firefight in which Osama bin Laden was killed took place in Abbottabad ‘deep inside Pakistan’.

This fact underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan.

Alain Juppe – France’s foreign minster

Bin Laden’s death is a “victory for all democracies fighting the abominable scourge of terrorism”.

Angela Merkel – German Chancellor

Last night the forces of peace achieved a victory. But this does not mean that international terrorism has
been defeated yet. We must all remain vigilant.

Silvio Berlusconi – Italian prime minister

This is a great outcome in the fight against evil, in the fight against terrorism, a great outcome for the United States and for all democracies.

Benigno Aquino – Philippine president

The death of Osama bin Laden marks a signal defeat for the forces of extremism and terrorism.

It represents the death of the efforts of one man to stoke the fires of sectarian hatred and to promote terrorism on a scale unprecedented in the history of mass murder.

Franco Frattini – Italian foreign minister

Bin Laden’s death at the hands of US forces “is a victory of good over evil, of justice over cruelty”.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen – NATO secretary general

This is a significant success for the security of NATO Allies and all the nations which have joined us in our efforts to combat the scourge of global terrorism to make the world a safer place for all of us.

Robert Fisk – journalist

Osama bin Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda, but to suggest that he was in command, sitting in some computer cave, is completely rubbish.

He spent most of his time hiding, most of his time running from the US authorities.

I never thought he would hang around long in Afghanistan but in Pakistan he had a soft spot. He felt safer in Pakistan than he did in Afghanistan, and I think that is correct.

You have to realise that bin Laden is a very popular mind, even with the royalty.

He was saying things about the West, which their dictators wouldn’t say, his condemnation of the West, and he had to say it from a cave.

He is a figure who would be reflected upon.

Steve Clemmons – The New America Foundation

It’s game changing news.

We got used to the fact that Osama bin Laden was beyond our reach. He has slipped off the radar screen, he was a pop culture figure with a fanatic bent.

The Muslim world are going to continue to have to deal with those who are inspired by him but of course knocking off a symbol globally is significant.

Imtiaz Gul – political analyst

It has come as a big surprise to most of the Pakistanis, particularly the location. Many believed that he had been long dead.

It is very close to the Pakistani military academy.

“I’d presume that the Pakistani intelligence was involved to the extent, [since] previous [al-Qaeda members] had been captured with their assistance.”

In most cases, the Americans wouldn’t tell the Pakistani security institutions where they were headed so in this case they (Pakistani intelligence) were probably on board but probably didn’t know where they (the US) were going to.

Mark Kimmit – Military Analyst/US Army Brigadier

This is not the end of the movement, this is not the end of the terrorism but this is the end of the chapter

Capturing or killing bin Laden has more iconic value.

It will have symbolic value, because it has been a number of years since bin Laden has exercised day to day control over operations. We still have an al-Qaeda threat out there and that will be there for a number of years.

This organisation (al-Qaeda) is more than bin Laden, it may be symbolised by bin Laden, but it definitely is more than him.

India’s reaction (BH News Desk Inputs):

Indian Home Ministry issued a statement underlining “concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan.”

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said:  “This operation brings to closure an almost decade-long search for the head of the al Qaeda.”

Source: Al Jazeera