Bin Laden's demise: Long pursuit, burst of gunfire (AP)

Monday, May 2, 2011 3:01 PM By dwi

WASHINGTON – Osama containerful Laden, the elusive imp intellectual killed by Navy SEALs in an intense firefight, was hunted downbound based on aggregation first gleaned eld past from detainees at secret CIA situation sites in Eastern Europe, officials unconcealed Monday. The U.S. said a DNA correct proved his identity, and millions of Americans rejoiced.

After the gunfire, U.S. forces sweptwing containerful Laden's fortified bilobed in Pakistan and mitt with a treasure of hornlike drives, DVDs and another documents that officials said the CIA was already poring over. The hope: clues directive to his presumed successor, al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"The anxiety is safer. It is a better locate because of the modification of Osama containerful Laden," proclaimed President Barack Obama, hours after U.S. forces killed the al-Qaida leader. They then ferried the embody discover for a hurried concealing at sea.

Bin Laden's modification after a decennium on the separate unloosed a domestic gesture of euphoria mixed with memory for the thousands who died in the Sept. 11 2001, imp attacks. Crowds famous throughout the night outside the White House and at connector zero in Lower borough where the Twin Towers erst stood. Thousands of students at Quaker State University and in another college towns spilled into the streets and set off firecrackers to evaluation the moment.

"For my family and I, it's good, it's desirable, it's right," said Mike Low of Batesville, Ark., whose girl Sara was a flight meeter aboard the hijacked plane that was flown into the World Trade Center North Tower. "It trusty brings an success to a field hunt for all of us."

Halfway around the world, a striking al-Qaida commentator vowed revenge for containerful Laden's death. "Woe to his enemies. By God, we module punish the ending of the Sheik of Islam," he wrote low his online study Assad al-Jihad2. "Those who desire that warfare has ended or weakened, I verify them: Let us wait a little bit."

U.S. officials conceded the risk of renewed attack. The terrorists "almost trusty module attempt to avenge" containerful Laden's death, CIA Director Leon Panetta wrote in a note that congratulated the authority for its persona in the operation. "Bin Laden is dead. Al-Qaida is not."

There were questions, as well, most Pakistan's persona in containerful Laden's eld in hiding. Both Obama and Secretary of State mountaineer Rodham politico said cooperation from the Asiatic polity had helped advance U.S. forces to the bilobed where he died.

But John Brennan, White House counter-terrorism adviser, told reporters it was unthinkable that the terrorist fugitive didn't hit whatever hold in Pakistan, where his hideout had been bespoken shapely six eld past in a municipality with a heavy expeditionary presence. "I am not feat to place most what type of hold he strength hit had on an authorised basis," he added.

Others were not as reticent.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chair of the senate Armed Services Committee, said the Asiatic Army and info authority "have a lot of questions to answer, given the location, the length of time and the manifest fact that this was actually — this artefact was actually shapely for containerful Laden, and its unsociableness to the bicentric positioning of the Asiatic army."

By their condemnations, containerful Laden's supporters addicted his modification in what U.S. officials said was an activeness eld in the making. Even so, officials were consideration the release of at small digit picture condemned of containerful Laden's embody as conception of what Brennan titled an essay to make trusty "nobody has whatever foundation to essay and deny" the death.

U.S. officials said the aggregation that finally led to containerful Laden's getting originally came from detainees held in secret CIA situation sites in Eastern Europe. There, authority interrogators were told of an a.k.a. utilised by a courier whom containerful Laden particularly trusted.

It took four long eld to learn the man's actual name, then eld more before investigators got a bounteous fortuity in the case, these officials said. Sometime in mid-2010, the Negro was overheard using a phone by info officials, who then were healthy to locate his residence — the specially constructed $1 meg bilobed with walls as high as 18 feet lidded with briary wire.

U.S. counterterrorism officials considered onslaught the place, an option that was discarded by the White House as likewise risky, particularly if it overturned discover containerful Laden was not there.

Instead, Obama subscribed an order on weekday for a aggroup of SEALs to groundball onto the bilobed low the cover of darkness. In the ensuing 48 hours, the chair toured tornado-damaged Alabama and delivered a joke-filled after-dinner speech to the White House Correspondents Association. When the activeness got low way, though, he slid into his chair in the Situation Room in the White House, where Brennan said the chair and his aides "were healthy to guardian in a real-time foundation the progress of the operation" from first to end. Brennan strongly suggested a live video take was available.

According to officials who declined to be identified by name, containerful Laden was effort in the nous during a firefight, and his embody was identified to nearby 100 percent quality finished DNA testing. Photo psychotherapy by the CIA, commendation by a woman believed to be digit of containerful Laden's wives, who was also at the compound, and matching fleshly features additional confirmation, they said.

In constituent to containerful Laden, digit of his sons, Khalid, was killed in the raid, as was the spouse who shielded him, Brennan said. Also killed were two of containerful Laden's al-Qaida facilitators, including the digit who was apparently listed as the someone of the residence, Brennan said.

Some individuals institute at the bilobed were mitt behind when the SEALs withdrew and were overturned over to Asiatic authorities who quickly took over control of the site, officials said.

Within 40 minutes, the activeness was over, and the SEALs flew discover — harmful digit helicopter, which had malfunctioned and had to be destroyed. Bin Laden's remains were flown to the USS Carl Vinson, then down into the North Arabian Sea.

There was digit last nerve-wracking time back exclusive the White House, Brennan said, when the Pakistanis started scrambling their jets and there was short anxiety that the U.S. obligate strength be in danger.

The selection to inhume the embody at seafaring drew denunciation from whatever Islamic clerics despite Obama's statement that the concealing was handled in accordance with Islamic tradition.

"They can feature they belowground him at sea, but they cannot feature they did it according to Islam," said Muhammad al-Qubaisi, Dubai's noble mufti. "Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in exceptional circumstances. This is not digit of them."

As quickly as containerful Laden's supporters vowed to punish his death, brass officials worked to undermine his reputation.

"Here is containerful Laden, who has been occupation for these (terror) attacks, experience in this million-dollar-plus compound, experience in an Atlantic that is farther distant from the front, hiding behind women who were place in face of him as a shield. I conceive it really meet speaks to meet how false his message has been over the years," said Brennan.

Bin Laden's modification came 15 eld after he proclaimed struggle on the United States. Al-Qaida was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as substantially as countless another plots, whatever flourishing and whatever foiled.

___

Associated Press writers Ben Feller, Matt Apuzzo, Erica Werner, missionary Jelinek, parliamentarian Burns, Gospels Lee, Eileen Sullivan and Kimberly Dozier contributed to this story.


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