WASHINGTON/ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan – Osama bin Laden was killed in a
U.S. assault on his Pakistani compound on Monday, then quickly buried at sea, in
a dramatic end to the long manhunt for the al Qaeda leader who had become the
most powerful symbol of global terrorism.
World leaders hailed bin Laden's death but the euphoria was tempered by fears
of retaliation and warnings of the need for renewed vigilance against
attacks.
The death of bin Laden, who achieved near-mythic status for his ability to
elude capture under three U.S. presidents, closes a bitter chapter in the fight
against al Qaeda, but it does not eliminate the threat of further attacks.
The September 11, 2001, attacks, in which al Qaeda militants used hijacked
planes to strike at economic and military symbols of American might, spawned two
wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, inflicted damage on U.S. ties with the Muslim
world that have yet to be repaired, and redefined security for air
travelers.
A small U.S. strike team, dropped by helicopter to bin Laden's compound near
the Pakistani capital Islamabad under the cover of night, shot dead the al Qaeda
leader in a firefight, U.S. officials said.
"This was a kill operation," one security official told Reuters, but added:
"If he had waved a white flag of surrender he would have been taken alive."
The revelation that bin Laden was living in a three-story residence in the
military garrison town of Abbottabad, and not as many had speculated, in the
country's lawless western border regions, is a huge embarrassment to Pakistan,
whose relations with Washington have frayed under the Obama administration.
President Barack Obama, whose popularity suffered from continuing U.S.
economic woes, will likely see a short-term bounce in his approval ratings. At
the same time, he is likely to face mounting pressure from Americans to speed up
the planned withdrawal this July of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
However, Bin Laden's death is unlikely to have any impact on the nearly
decade-long war in Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are facing record violence by
a resurgent Taliban.
Many analysts see bin Laden's death as largely symbolic since he was no
longer believed to have been issuing operational orders to the many autonomous
al Qaeda affiliates around the world.
Financial markets were more optimistic. The dollar and stocks rose, while oil
and gold fell, on the view bin Laden's death reduced global security risks. Reuters
