Osama bin Laden dead: Finger of suspicion at Pakistan military
Lending credence is the fact that US homed in on Laden in Abbottabad, just 50 kms from Islamabad with strong military presence.

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02/05/2011

Osama''s killing proof that 26/11 terrorists in Pak:Chidambaram

New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) India today said the killing of global terrorist Osama bin Laden was a matter of grave concern as it proved that terrorists belonging to different groups find sanctuary in Pakistan.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said in a statement that perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, including the controllers and handlers of the terrorists, continue to be sheltered in Pakistan.
He said that earlier today the US government informed New Delhi that Osama bin Laden had been killed by security forces somewhere "deep inside Pakistan."
"After the September 11, 2001 terror attack, the US had a reason to seek Osama bin Laden and bring him and his accomplices to justice," the statement said.
"We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which President (Barack) Obama said that the fire fight in which Osama bin Laden was killed took place in Abbotabad ''deep inside Pakistan''.
"This fact underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan," he said.
The Home Minister said in the wake of this incident "we believe that perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, including the controllers and handlers of the terrorists who actually carried out the attack, continue to be sheltered in Pakistan.
"We once again call upon the Government of Pakistan to arrest the persons whose names have been handed over to the Interior Minister of Pakistan as well as provide voice samples of certain persons who are suspected to be among the controllers and handlers of the terrorists." PTI SKL

Osama dead: But Killing of Osama in Pakistan will not help Indian cause, says security experts! Rather the Epicentre of WAR on Terror is Shifted in the Bleeding Divided South Asian Geopolitics! Zionist Brahaminical Nuclear Strategic Alliance HERALDS New Age of DESTRUCTION Full of TERROR! DNA tests have confirmed that Osama bin Laden is dead, a senior US official said Monday, a day after a daring raid by US special forces on the Al-Qaeda leader's compound in Pakistan. LPG Mafia Raj would continue to PRESS for Further EXCLUSION and ETHNIC CLEANSING hyped as Economic Reforms as National Security and ISLAMOPHOBIA would be best ever STIMULUS for Sustenace of Manusmriti Rule! As India's central bank on Monday eased borrowing norms for non-resident investors by allowing them to obtain loans from Indian and overseas banks by pledging domestic shares.

Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden may have been killed near a Pakistani military establishment in Abbottabad but it will not be of major help to India which is pursuing extradition of masterminds of several terror attacks, including the 26/11 Mumbai strikes, say security experts.

Meanwhile,The Pakistani Taliban Monday threatened to kill President Asif Ali Zardari and carry out attacks on the Pakistani Army and the US military after the killing of Osama bin Laden in a US operation.

Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan's Abbottabad city, north of Islamabad, early Monday in an operation mounted by the US CIA and Special Forces.

"Now Pakistani rulers, President Zardari and the army will be our first targets. America will be our second target," Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), told news agencies by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The Taliban are an ally of Al Qaeda.

Ficci for auction of natural resources for granting licence

Ficci on Sunday suggested an auction-based system for allocation of natural resources, including iron ore, coal and telecom spectrum, for the consideration of Ashok Chawla Committee . At present, the system of firstcome-first-served basis is followed for allocation of most of the minerals.

Ficci said that a transparent, auction-based system similar to NELP ( National Exploration Licensing Policy )) can be adopted while granting licence for fully explored blocks of minerals. In order to attract large investments in exploitation of natural resources wherein multiple parties can stake claim, NELP process allows allocation of licences through a transparent auction and competitive bidding process only, it said.

In case of unknown mineralisation, it said that the Committee may consider Open Sky policy. "In order to incentivise large investments for exploration of unknown minerals, preference may be given in allocation of mines to those who have participated in the exploration of unknown minerals ," it said. However, Ficci said that auction-based system may not be appropriate in those cases where adequate information about the extent/size/grade of minerals is not there. "In such cases, it may lead to a speculative bidding with a high risk of over paying by investor, which may force him to abandon the project midway with associated environmental, social and technical consequences ," it added.

It is, therefore, suggested that auctioning should be limited to fully explored blocks and other areas should be granted on First-Come-First-Served basis subject to competitive criteria of technical expertise , financial resources and investment proposed. The chamber suggested to the committee that a time-bound mechanism should be in place to ensure development of mineral resources , it said, adding strict penalty clauses should be put in place in case of non-adherence to development plan. "This would ensure that only serious players are given mines and they are developed in a timely manner," it said.

For mining leases, the government may consider flexibility in payment mechanism instead of adopting one mechanism for all minerals. "Government may consider drafting mineral specific terms for mining leases, which may include modalities like production sharing , signing bonus with royalty," Ficci said. Further, it said that value addition should get due weight while allocating the mineral resources through open competitive bidding. The Union cabinet secretariat had on February 8 set up a highpowered committee headed by former finance secretary Ashok Chawla to suggest a roadmap for efficient and transparent distribution of scarce natural resources such as telecom spectrum. For spectrum, FICCI has suggested auction-based system for allocation.

Except for 3G, India had been following the principle of "First come first served" for spectrum, it said, adding that this policy was appropriate when there were limited number of operators. "However , in the current scenario of a competitive telecom broadband industry, auctioning of spectrum may be the best method going forward," it said.

The official confirmed on condition of anonymity that a DNA match had been established with bin Laden's body before it was buried at sea after the raid.

Another official said they were convinced the US operation had indeed killed bin Laden.

"Bin Laden's DNA has been matched to several family members. And there is at least 99 pecent certainty that the DNA matches that of Osama Bin Laden," the second official told AFP.

"I don't think there will be any impact on India. We can only clap from sidelines," A S Dulat, former chief of Indian External Intelligence agency RAW, said.

Agreeing with him another former Special Secretary of RAW Rana Banerjee said on a TV channel that India may be able just to score "some brownie points" vis-a-vis Pakistan with Laden's killing in that country.

Former High Commissioner to Pakistan, G Parthasarathy, too said that today's development will be of "no" help to Indian efforts seeking custody of several terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar who planned Parliament attack, Hafiz Saeed who masterminded 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and Dawood Ibrahim who orchestrated 1993 Mumbai bombings.

Security experts feel the fact, that al Qaeda founder was hiding in Pakistan's affluent neighbourhood Abbottabad which also houses key Pakistan Army establishments, Pakistan Military Academy and farm houses of several retired senior military generals, exposes Pakistan's double speak on terrorism.

Parthasarathy said for 10 years, Pakistan denied that Osama was on their soil. "He has now been killed in Abbottabad in the heart of military cantonment in a building with six family members surrounded by residences of Pakistan Military officers. Obviously he was guest of Pakistan military.

"India should be very clear if Pakistan harbours world's most wanted terrorist, will it take action against Hafiz Saeed, Maulana Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim," he said.

Parthasarathy said, "We have to devise appropriate covert measures to deal with these people (terrorists). We cannot depend on Pakistan's goodwill or Pakistani generosity in dealing with terrorists who find safe haven in Pakistan." He, however, clarified that by covert measures he did not mean action by special forces on the lines of the US.

Some experts, who did not wish to be quoted, said India does not have same options as United States for "various reasons" and it should continue to build pressure through diplomatic channels to bring to book individuals who have masterminded attacks on the Indian soil.

Former Intelligence Bureau Chief Ajit Doval was of the view that today's killing of al Qaeda Chief may trigger some action by Pakistan's terrorist groups in India. "There is need for India to understand it is a very major development in contemporary terrorist movement. This can take very dangerous forms, one of them possibly could be some of the Pakistani terrorist groups aligning themselves more closely with al Qaeda ideology and targeting India in pursuance of their jihadi agenda," he said.

Doval also suggested India should be cautious of emerging threats and develop its strategies to tackle them.

"India needs a very comprehensive and imaginative strategic plan and tactical capacities to counter the move and emerging threats. The threats may particularly compound if Pakistan continues to adopt the dualistic policy of fighting terrorism for global consumption and supporting them for furthering its hidden agenda," he said.

Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was slain in a firefight Sunday with U.S. forces in Pakistan, ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade.

"Justice has been done," President Barack Obama said in a dramatic late-night announcement at the White House.

A jubilant crowd of thousands gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden's death. Hundreds more sang and waved American flags at Ground Zero in New York - where the twin towers that once stood as symbols of American economic power were brought down by bin Laden's hijackers 10 years ago.

Another hijacked plane slammed into the Pentagon on that cloudless day, and a fourth was commandeered by passengers who forced it to the ground before it could reach its intended target in Washington.

U.S. officials said the helicopter raid in Pakistan was carried out by CIA paramilitaries together with the elite Navy SEAL Team Six. The U.S. team took custody of bin Laden's remains, which American officials said were being handled in accordance with Islamic tradition.

The death marks a psychological triumph in a long struggle, although its ultimate impact on al-Qaida is less clear.

The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida's core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.

Obama said he gave the order for the operation after receiving intelligence information that he did not further describe.

Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden's death as a momentous achievement. "The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," he said.

Senior administration officials said the terrorist mastermind was found inside a custom-built compound with two security gates. They said it appeared to have been constructed to harbor one high-value target and that for undisclosed reasons, officials believed the hideout was bin Laden's.

Officials also said they believe the death puts bin Laden's al-Qaida on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse, but there was no word on the whereabouts of bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri.

The stunning end to the world's most widely-watched manhunt came just months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by al-Qaida, that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The attacks a decade ago seemed to come out of nowhere, even though al-Qaida had previously struck American targets overseas.

The terrorists hijacked planes, flew one of them into one of Manhattan's Twin Towers - and, moments later, into the other one. Both buildings collapsed, trapping thousands inside and also claiming the lives of firefighters and others who had rushed to help them.
RBI permits loans against shares for offshore investors

India's central bank on Monday eased borrowing norms for non-resident investors by allowing them to obtain loans from Indian and overseas banks by pledging domestic shares.

Non-resident investors can avail of loans from an overseas bank for genuine business purposes overseas, but not for investments either directly or indirectly into India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement.

The RBI also said that the overseas investment should not result in any capital inflows into India.

Death of Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was slain in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan, ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade.
02 May 2011 Last updated at 22:49 GMT

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Osama bin Laden dead, body buried at sea: Report

WASHINGTON: The body of Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden has been buried at sea after he was killed by US covert forces in Pakistan , US media reported Monday.

Cable television networks CNN, MSNBC and Fox said a senior US official had confirmed to them that bin Laden's body had been buried in the sea, without giving further details.

US officials did not respond when contacted by AFP for confirmation of the reports.

But earlier an administration official said of the corpse: "We are ensuring that it is handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition.

"This is something that we take very seriously. And so therefore this is being handled in an appropriate manner."

Burying bin Laden's body at sea would ensure that his final resting place does not become a shrine and a place of pilgrimage for his followers, ABC television reported earlier.

QAEDA NEEDS "A MIRACLE" TO RECOVER

Some analysts say that bin Laden's memory may now inspire followers, who will now see him as a martyr, to take revenge.

And the extensive online forums, chat rooms and websites operated by al Qaeda sympathisers will ensure his role as the group's motivator-in-chief will endure.

"As a symbol, as a source of ideology, bin Laden can continue to play those roles dead as well as alive," Pillar said.

But his departure will add to pressure on morale throughout the network, despite al Qaeda's glorification of martyrdom and a perception that bin Laden died an honourable death in battle.

Gerges said it would "take a miracle" for al Qaeda to recover ideologically and operationally from bin Laden's death.

Thomas Hegghammer, a specialist on militancy at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, said that over the long term his loss would deepen the group's disarray.

"It is bad for al Qaeda and the jihadi movements. Bin Laden was a symbol of al Qaeda's longevity and its defiance of the West. Now that symbol is gone."

2 MAY, 2011, 01.45PM IST, CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA,TNN
Osama bin Laden dead: Finger of suspicion at Pakistan military for protecting bin Laden

WASHINGTON: The finger of suspicion is pointing squarely at the Pakistani military and intelligence for sheltering and protecting Osama bin Laden before US forces hunted him down and put a bullet in his head on Sunday. The coordinates of the action and sequence of events suggest that the al-Qaida fugitive may have been killed in an ISI safehouse.

Within hours of the news of bin Laden's killing, speculation raged about Pakistan and its spy agency's role in the momentous episode. President Obama made it clear that the operation to hunt down bin Laden was conducted exclusively by US forces -- ''a small team of Americans,'' he said -- at his direction. While he thanked Pakistan's civilian government for its help, naming President Zardari in particular, he made no mention of any other active Pakistani role, especially in the operation. It was "all-American" and "Made in USA," he seemed to say.

But in a glaring counter-narrative, Pakistani security officials claimed bin Laden was nailed in a joint operation between CIA and Pakistani forces. "It was carried out on a very precise info that some high-value target is there," one Pakistani official was quoted as saying.

US analysts uniformly suggested this was clearly aimed at ducking charges of the Pakistani military's possible role in hiding bin Laden. ''This is hugely embarrassing for Pakistan,'' was a common refrain on US TV channels throughout the night.

In fact, top US officials have openly suggested for months that the Pakistani military establishment was hiding bin Laden. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came closest to publicly exposing Pakistan's role last May when she accused some government officials there of harboring Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.

''I am not saying they are at the highest level...but I believe somewhere in this government are people who know where Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida and where Mullah Omar and the leadership of the Taliban are,'' Clinton said on May 10 last year, adding, ''We expect more cooperation (from Pakistan) to help us bring to justice capture or kill those who brought us 9/11.''

Taken together with President Obama's pointed 'thank you' to President Zardari and leaving out any mention of Pakistani forces' involvement, it would seem that Washington believes that Pakistan's military intelligence establishment, including the ISI, was sheltering bin Laden. The ISI was accused as recently as last week by the top US military official Admiral Mike Mullen of having terrorist links, and named as a terrorist support entity by US officials, according to the Guantanamo cables.

Lending credence to the charges is the fact that US forces homed in on bin Laden in Abbottabad, which is a cantonment just 50 kms from Islamabad , where the Pakistani military has a strong presence. The place where bin Laden was killed is only kilometers from the Kakul military academy, where many Pakistani military elites, including some of its ISI cadres, graduate from.

While US officials are tightlipped about precise details, analysts are trying to figure out whether the compound that sheltered bin Laden was an ISI safehouse. There is also speculation as to whether Hillary Clinton was referring to this when she made her pointed remarks last May.

US officials have said for years that they believed bin Laden escaped to Pakistan after the American bombing campaign in Afghanistan. But Pakistani officials, including its former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, insisted that he was in Afghanistan , even as Afghan officials would angrily refute it and say he is in Pakistan. In the end, the Americans and Afghans were right on the money.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/osama-bin-laden-dead-finger-of-suspicion-at-pakistan-military-for-protecting-bin-laden/articleshow/8142104.cms

Indian financial market largely remained orderly: RBI

The Reserve Bank today said the Indian financial market largely remained orderly despite global uncertainties and challenges posed by persistent inflation.

"Global uncertainties as well as domestic developments impacted Indian financial markets. The Indian markets, however, remained largely orderly, despite the challenges posed by persistent inflation and high current account deficit," RBI said in its report 'Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments in 2010-11' released today.

Asset prices generally remained range bound. Equity markets witnessed good buying interest from FIIs during July- November 2010 followed by some correction along with greater volatility, it said.

The apex bank further said that interest rates firmed up responding to monetary signals and banks progressively passed on the increased costs in the form of higher lending rates.

It further predicted that with the rise in global equity market there may be shift in investors' preference away from the Emerging Markets Economies (EMEs) to those of the advanced economies, particularly the US.

Taking note of geopolitical risk in the Middle East and North America (MENA), RBI further said, "the financial markets need to brace up to the geopolitical risks in MENA, default risks in the Euro zone and movements in cross-border capital flows."

2 MAY, 2011, 11.02AM IST,ET BUREAU
Government plans 'umbrella law' to tighten scrutiny and regulation of religious trusts and NGOs

MUMBAI: The government plans an umbrella law to tighten financial scrutiny and regulation of religious trusts and non-profit organisations as it looks to allay global concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing activities by such entities. It is also likely to make public names of organisations that claim tax exemption to ensure greater transparency. Some of India's religious trusts are among the richest in the world. Last year, Tirumala temple, managed by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, collected about 575 crore in cash alone.

Although most trusts that manage big temples have now been taken over by their state governments, authorities are concerned about the smaller ones that are run privately. "The law is under examination ," a finance ministry official told ET. An inter-ministerial panel has drawn up the contours of the law that has proposed a centralised authority to deal with the non-profit sector, a practice followed in the US, Bangladesh and Nepal.

At present, India has different laws administering such bodies : the Indian Trusts Act, Bombay Trusts Act, Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, Societies Act, trusts Acts in various states and the Companies Act. Multiple Acts make monitoring of these entities difficult , raising concerns on the source and outflow of funds. "There is a need for a national framework legislation which will help create an ecosystem to support the NPO sector. This will bring transparency and accountability through promoting public disclosure and enhance financial reporting within the voluntary sector," said Parul Soni of Ernst & Young Pvt Ltd.

Matter of Trust

A nonprofit organisation can be set up as a...

Trust under the state trusts Acts such as Bombay Trusts Act, Indian Trusts Act Society under the Societies Registration Act Section 25 company under the Companies Act, 1956

They need to register with...

The Income-Tax Department for income-tax exemption Home ministry under the Foreign Contributions Regulations Act, and the states to comply with various state laws A foreign NPO setting up an office in India & wanting staff from abroad will need permission from the RBI & also an NOC from External Affairs Ministry Managements of some of the temple trusts such as Vaishno Devi and Tirupati have been taken over by state governments

Key Issues

No centralised body to keep a tab on the sector Too many of them - I-T Dept puts total number of charitable organisations at 1 lakh but unofficial number is double that They command a lot of funds about which very little is known.

Finance Ministry to Consult States

The finance ministry has initiated discussions on the single-law proposal and will consult state governments as some areas relating to NPOs fall under the state and concurrent lists of the Constitution . "The final contours of the framework would emerge after discussions with all stakeholders and state governments ," the official said. However, the government is expected to complete the process by March 2012, he said. "Unregulated NPOs are known to act as conduits for money laundering for organized crime," an anti-money laundering expert working with a multilateral institution said, requesting anonymity. Global pressure is also growing on India to act urgently.

The Financial Action Task Force , or FATF, has in its latest report identified fund transfers from foreign NPOs as one of the major sources for terrorist financing in the country, on a par with counterfeiting of currency, drug trafficking and extortion. FATF is a global watchdog to monitor illicit flows and terror financing. "India does not maintain a unified database for NPOs... Statistics on the registered NPOs are not generally available in India," the report said. The only credible source of information is the income-tax department because it gives tax exemption to the NPOs. There are about a lakh such entities registered with the department but unofficial estimates put the number at about 2 lakh. Nonprofit organisations include corporate charities and educational institutions.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes is planning to strengthen monitoring before granting exemptions to NPOs, often accused of misusing tax breaks. The government is estimated to have lost . 854 crore in tax revenues in 2010-11 on account of donations to charitable trusts and institutions. The government has tightened income-tax provisions in the current law and is proposing a more stringent framework under the proposed Direct Taxes Code.

Experts suggest stricter tabs on donors and a greater coordination between the Centre and states to deal with money laundering. "KYC procedures and a central repository of donors are key controls to be looked into. Both Centre and states should work together to combat this threat which could emerge from even a single NPO which may be insignificant in size and operations but has enough infrastructure to mushroom," the expert said.

02/05/2011

DNA Test Done on Osama Bin Laden: Report

US troops reportedly used tissue and brain sample of Osama bin laden's sister, who died of brain cancer several years ago in the city, to conduct a DNA test and match it with the Al-Qaeda chief, who was killed by US forces in Pakistan.

DNA Test Done on Osama Bin Laden: Report

Bin Laden's sister, whose name is not known, died from brain cancer several years ago in Boston.

The FBI immediately subpoenaed her body so that it could later be used to identify the al-Qaeda leader if he was caught, a report in the Telegraph said.

The brain was preserved and tissue and blood samples taken from it were used to compile a DNA profile.

"The tissue sample was reportedly then matched to the DNA of the man shot dead by US troops in a raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan," the report said.

DNA Test Done on Osama Bin Laden: Report

Bin laden was shot in the head and chest by US Navy seals in a firefight in the compound in Pakistan's Abbottabad area.

US officials confirmed that the body had been identified by a DNA test conducted in Afghanistan.

A national security official told CNN there were multiple confirmations of bin Laden's identity, adding that they used "facial recognition work, amongst other things, to confirm the identity."

Source: PTI

Obama: 'A good day for America'

9/11 mastermind bin Laden buried at sea after gunbattle in Pakistan

NBC News and msnbc.com

updated 10 minutes ago

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Key details:

Obama: Bin Laden's death means world is a safer place
Al-Qaida leader killed in operation led by Navy SEALs, CIA forces
DNA evidence: 100 percent certain it was bin Laden
White House security team briefs reporters
Bin Laden buried in Arabian Sea from USS Carl Vinson
His compound was close to Pakistan army base
Pakistan warns U.S. not to 'spin' Pakistani involvement

President Barack Obama declared Monday that the U.S. had "kept its commitment to justice," saying the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was "a good day for America."

In brief remarks before he led a ceremony honoring two Korean War veterans with the Medal of Honor, Obama said the world "is a safer place" today.

The remarks were the president's first since he dramatically announced Sunday night that bin Laden, 54, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans, had been shot and killed earlier in the day in a firefight with U.S. forces at his luxury hideout in Pakistan.

Bin Laden died in a gunbattle with Navy SEALs and CIA paramilitary forces at a compound in the city of Abbottabad, U.S. officials told reporters.

In a background briefing with journalists, U.S. officials suggested that bin Laden opened fire on the U.S. forces. NBC News' Savannah Guthrie, citing an unnamed U.S. official, reported that he was shot in the left eye.

Video: Details on US raid that killed bin Laden (on this page)

The special operations forces were on the ground for less than 40 minutes, and the operation was watched in real time by CIA Director Leon Panetta and other intelligence officials in a conference room at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., an official said on condition of anonymity.

More details of the operation were expected in a briefing under way for reporters by White House press sectretary Jay Carney and members of Obama's national security team.

The scene in the Situation Room

The team returned to Afghanistan with bin Laden's body, U.S. officials said.

A senior official told NBC News that a DNA analysis had established with "100 percent certainty" that the body was bin Laden's. One of bin Laden's wives, who survived the firefight in the compound, also identified him, the official said.

Death of Osama bin Laden

A senior U.S. official told NBC News that bin Laden was later buried at sea from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the North Arabian Sea after a ritual washing and religious remarks in accordance with Muslim laws.

Islamic tradition calls for a body to be buried within 24 hours, but finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorism who had long been officially rejected by his native Saudi Arabia, would have been difficult, a senior administration official said.

Other U.S. officials said the burial at sea deprived bin Laden's adherents of a permanent memorial site to use as a rallying point.

Video: Bin Laden buried at sea

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Other U.S. officials said one of bin Laden's sons and two of his most trusted couriers also were killed, as was an unidentified woman who was used as a human shield.

Al Arabiya TV reported that two of bin Laden's wives and four of his children were also captured during the operation.

'A kill operation'
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior U.S. security official told Reuters that Navy SEALs dropped by helicopter to the compound were under orders not to capture bin Laden.

"This was a kill operation," the official said.

PhotoBlog: Bin Laden 'death photo' a fake?

Intelligence officials were not certain that bin Laden would be at the site, as there was "no smoking gun that put him there," NBC News reported. But bin Laden was indeed holed up in a two-story house 100 yards from a Pakistani military academy when four helicopters carrying U.S. forces swooped in .

Bin Laden's guards opened fire on the commandos, and his final hiding place was left in flames, witnesses said.

One of the helicopters was forced to land unexpectedly because the steep walls of the compound left too little air beneath it to allow it to hover over the scene as planned, a senior administration official told NBC News' Courtney Kube.

The same condition made it impossible for the helicopter to take off afterward, the official said, leading U.S. forces to destroy the craft on the ground to protect its technology and intelligence.

U.S. officials said no Americans were hurt in the operation.

Video: Engel: Bin Laden loyalists engaging in 'myth building' (on this page)

Abbottabad is home to three Pakistan army regiments and thousands of military personnel and is dotted with military buildings. BBC News described the army site as the country's equivalent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

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Photos: World reacts to death of Osama bin Laden

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Jeff Ray of Shanksville, Pa., visits the temporary memorial to United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., Monday, May 2.(Gene J. Puskar / AP) Share
Supporters of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden shout anti-American slogans, after the news of his death, during a rally in Quetta on Monday. (Stringer/pakistan / Reuters) Share
New York City police officers with Operation Hercules arrive at the Armed Forces recruitment center in New York's Times Square on Monday. (Mary Altaffer / AP) Share
Related video9/11 victim's kin: Bin Laden will be judged by God
Dionne Layne, right, hugs Mary Power in reacton to the news of the death of Osama bin Laden on Monday in New York. At left is 1 World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, which is currently under construction. (Mark Lennihan / AP) Share
Pakistan army soldiers stand guard near the compound where it is believed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Monday. (Anjum Naveed / AP) Share
Students look towards the compound where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed from a nearby madrasa in Abbottabad on Monday. (Faisal Mahmood / Reuters) Share
Dan Parker of Shamokin, Pa., holds a U.S. flag outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Monday after learning of Osama bin Laden's death. (Kevin Lamarque / Reuters) Share
People buy newspapers reporting the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at local newspaper printing press in Karachi, Pakistan on Monday. (Shakil Adil / AP) Share

Related videoWill U.S. jubilation spark rage in the Arab world?
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, is flanked by vice presidents Mohammad Qasim Fahim, left, and Mohammed Karim Khalili, right, as he addresses the media at the presidential palace in Kabul on Monday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that the killing of Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan proved Kabul's long-standing position that the war on terror was not rooted in Afghanistan.(Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images) Share
People shout slogans while holding placards and photographs of Osama bin Laden as they celebrate his killing in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Monday. (Amit Dave / Reuters) Share
People react to the death of Osama bin Laden in Times Square, New York City, early Monday. (Eric Thayer / Reuters)Share
University of Texas at Austin students celebrate the news of Osama bin Laden's death at Cain & Abel's bar late Sunday night. (Erika Rich / Daily Texan via AP) Share
People light candles in the streets at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center, in response to the death of Osama bin Laden on Sunday night, May 1, in New York City. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) Share

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A driver and passengers celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden in the streets of Lawrence, Kan., on Sunday. President Barack Obama announced Sunday night, May 1, that Osama bin Laden was killed in an operation led by the United States. (Orlin Wagner / AP) Share
Arab-Americans celebrate the news of the death of Osama bin Laden in Dearborn, Mich., early Monday, May 2.(Carlos Osorio / AP) Share
Actor Rob Lowe with a New York City fireman in Times Square in New York on Monday. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP-Getty Images) Share
Related videoAmericans rejoice over death of bin Laden
Crowds gather at ground zero in New York early Monday, shortly after President Obama announced that a U.S. military operation had killed Osama bin Laden in a firefight at a large mansion in Pakistan.(Justin Lane / EPA) Share
People cheer and wave flags on the "Freedom Bridge" just outside Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Sunday near Tacoma, Wash., after they heard the news of bin Laden's death. (Ted S. Warren / AP) Share
David Huber and Nicole Lozare of Arlington, Va., pay their respect to victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon Memorial early Monday morning, after President Obama announced bin Laden's death. A special forces-led operation killed the al-Qaida leader in a mansion outside Islamabad in Pakistan. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) Share
Crowds gather at ground zero in New York on Monday. (Justin Lane / EPA) Share
U.S. Marines of Regiment Combat Team 1 watch TV at Camp Dwyer in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Monday as President Obama announces the death of Osama bin Laden. Obama said late Sunday U.S. time that justice had been done after the September 11, 2001, attacks, but warned that al-Qaida will still try to attack the U.S. (Bay Ismoyo / AFP - Getty Images) Share
People celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden in Times Square in New York City on Sunday night. (Pantaleo-Taamallah / Abaca)Share
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President Barack Obama is pictured after announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, from the East Room of the White House in Washington on Sunday. The al-Qaida was killed earlier that day in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan and his body was recovered, Obama said. (Jason Reed / Reuters)Share
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A crowd outside the White House in Washington cheers on Sunday upon hearing the news that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is dead. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP) Share

Data: A timeline of Osama bin Laden's life

Considered enemy No. 1 by the U.S., the Saudi millionaire is the perpetrator behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Click on key dates to learn more about the founder of al-Qaida, an international terror network.

How the US tracked couriers to elaborate bin Laden compound

First intelligence of a courier, then an extraordinary house with high walls — and no telephone or Internet. Bin Laden and a son are among five killed in a firefight.

msnbc.com and NBC News

updated 1 hour 42 minutes ago

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The trail that led to Osama bin Laden began before 9/11, before the terror attacks that brought the son of a Saudi construction magnate to prominence. The chase grew more urgent last fall, when U.S. intelligence discovered an elaborate compound in Pakistan, a clue that eventually culminated in Sunday's raid on a fortified and isolated fortress in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

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Details of the hunt for and killing of the 54-year-old bin Laden were still being assembled Monday, but briefings by senior White House and CIA officials filled in some gaps in the account of the investigation and death of the world's most-wanted terrorist.

U.S. intelligence officials were aware of bin Laden's growing radicalism before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and began assembling a dossier on him.

"From the time that we first recognized bin Laden as a threat, the U.S. gathered information on people in bin Laden's circle, including his personal couriers," a senior official in the Obama administration said in a background briefing from the White House early Monday.

After the Sept. 11, attacks, "detainees gave us information on couriers. One courier in particular had our constant attention. Detainees gave us his nom de guerre, his pseudonym, and also identified this man as one of the few couriers trusted by bin Laden."

Video: Obama confirms bin Laden is dead

In 2007, the U.S. learned the man's name.

It was not immediately clear where the information that opened the end game was obtained. The New York Times reported Monday that detainees at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, gave the courier's pseudonym to interrogators and identified him as a protégé of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. But the Associated Press quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying that CIA interrogators at secret prisons developed strands that led to bin Laden.

In 2009, "we identified areas in Pakistan where the courier and his brother operated. They were very careful, reinforcing belief we were on the right track."

In August 2010, "we found their home in Abbottabad," not in a cave, not right along the Afghanistan border, but in an affluent suburb less than 40 miles from the capital.

"When we saw the compound, we were shocked by what we saw: an extraordinarily unique compound."

Death of Osama bin Laden

The plot of land was roughly eight times larger than the other homes in the area. It was built in 2005 on the outskirts of town, but now some other homes are nearby.

"Physical security is extraordinary: 12 to 18 foot walls, walled areas, restricted access by two security gates." The residents burn their trash, unlike their neighbors. There are no windows facing the road. One part of the compound has its own seven-foot privacy wall.

And unusual for a compound valued at more than $1 million: It had no telephone or Internet service.

This home, U.S. intelligence analysts concluded, was "custom built to hide someone of significance."

Besides the two brothers, the U.S. "soon learned that a third family lived there, whose size and makeup of family we believed to match those we believed would be with bin Laden. Our best information was that bin Laden was there with his youngest wife."

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There was no proof, but everything seemed to fit: the security, the background of the couriers, the design of the compound.

"Our analysts looked at this from every angle. No other candidate fit the bill as well as bin Laden did," an official said.

"The bottom line of our collection and analysis was that we had high confidence that the compound held a high-value terrorist target. There was a strong probability that it was bin Laden."

That conclusion was reached in mid-February, officials said. Beginning in mid-March, the president led five National Security Council meetings on the plans for an operation.

Few in the know
On Friday, the president gave the order.

This information was shared "with no other country," an official said. "Only a very small group of people inside our own government knew of this operation in advance."

With bin Laden believed found, focus shifted to taking him out. A senior U.S. security official told Reuters that it was a "kill operation," removing the option for the team to simply capture bin Laden.

Senior U.S. officials told NBC News Monday that CIA Director Leon Panetta had overall command of the operation.

The officials, both in the intelligence community and the Pentagon, said Panetta ran the operation from the CIA Directors conference room on the seventh floor for the CIA.

With Obama having authorized the operation, Panetta gave the order at midday Sunday for the joint special operations-military team that carried out the assault to raid the compound, the officials said. A senior U.S. official declined comment on whether CIA officers were on hand at the site, but Panetta's role as commander would suggest they were. The CIA and special operations forces have worked together for years in counterterrorism operations.

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Photos: World reacts to death of Osama bin Laden

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Jeff Ray of Shanksville, Pa., visits the temporary memorial to United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., Monday, May 2.(Gene J. Puskar / AP) Share
Supporters of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden shout anti-American slogans, after the news of his death, during a rally in Quetta on Monday. (Stringer/pakistan / Reuters) Share
New York City police officers with Operation Hercules arrive at the Armed Forces recruitment center in New York's Times Square on Monday. (Mary Altaffer / AP) Share
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Dionne Layne, right, hugs Mary Power in reacton to the news of the death of Osama bin Laden on Monday in New York. At left is 1 World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, which is currently under construction. (Mark Lennihan / AP) Share
Pakistan army soldiers stand guard near the compound where it is believed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Monday. (Anjum Naveed / AP) Share
Students look towards the compound where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed from a nearby madrasa in Abbottabad on Monday. (Faisal Mahmood / Reuters) Share
Dan Parker of Shamokin, Pa., holds a U.S. flag outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Monday after learning of Osama bin Laden's death. (Kevin Lamarque / Reuters) Share
People buy newspapers reporting the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at local newspaper printing press in Karachi, Pakistan on Monday. (Shakil Adil / AP) Share

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center, is flanked by vice presidents Mohammad Qasim Fahim, left, and Mohammed Karim Khalili, right, as he addresses the media at the presidential palace in Kabul on Monday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that the killing of Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan proved Kabul's long-standing position that the war on terror was not rooted in Afghanistan.(Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images) Share
People shout slogans while holding placards and photographs of Osama bin Laden as they celebrate his killing in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Monday. (Amit Dave / Reuters) Share
People react to the death of Osama bin Laden in Times Square, New York City, early Monday. (Eric Thayer / Reuters)Share
University of Texas at Austin students celebrate the news of Osama bin Laden's death at Cain & Abel's bar late Sunday night. (Erika Rich / Daily Texan via AP) Share
People light candles in the streets at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center, in response to the death of Osama bin Laden on Sunday night, May 1, in New York City. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) Share

Related videoGiuliani on bin Laden: Satisfied but not elated
A driver and passengers celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden in the streets of Lawrence, Kan., on Sunday. President Barack Obama announced Sunday night, May 1, that Osama bin Laden was killed in an operation led by the United States. (Orlin Wagner / AP) Share
Arab-Americans celebrate the news of the death of Osama bin Laden in Dearborn, Mich., early Monday, May 2.(Carlos Osorio / AP) Share
Actor Rob Lowe with a New York City fireman in Times Square in New York on Monday. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP-Getty Images) Share
Related videoAmericans rejoice over death of bin Laden
Crowds gather at ground zero in New York early Monday, shortly after President Obama announced that a U.S. military operation had killed Osama bin Laden in a firefight at a large mansion in Pakistan.(Justin Lane / EPA) Share
People cheer and wave flags on the "Freedom Bridge" just outside Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Sunday near Tacoma, Wash., after they heard the news of bin Laden's death. (Ted S. Warren / AP) Share
David Huber and Nicole Lozare of Arlington, Va., pay their respect to victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon Memorial early Monday morning, after President Obama announced bin Laden's death. A special forces-led operation killed the al-Qaida leader in a mansion outside Islamabad in Pakistan. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) Share
Crowds gather at ground zero in New York on Monday. (Justin Lane / EPA) Share
U.S. Marines of Regiment Combat Team 1 watch TV at Camp Dwyer in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Monday as President Obama announces the death of Osama bin Laden. Obama said late Sunday U.S. time that justice had been done after the September 11, 2001, attacks, but warned that al-Qaida will still try to attack the U.S. (Bay Ismoyo / AFP - Getty Images) Share
People celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden in Times Square in New York City on Sunday night. (Pantaleo-Taamallah / Abaca)Share
Related videoBin Laden death marks end of an era
President Barack Obama is pictured after announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, from the East Room of the White House in Washington on Sunday. The al-Qaida was killed earlier that day in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan and his body was recovered, Obama said. (Jason Reed / Reuters)Share
Related videoBin Laden's burial at sea 'unusual'
A crowd outside the White House in Washington cheers on Sunday upon hearing the news that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is dead. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP) Share

Discuss: How the US tracked couriers to elaborate bin Laden compound

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First intelligence of a courier, then an extraordinary house with high walls — and no telephone or Internet. Bin Laden and a son are among five killed in a firefight.

02/05/2011

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

Washington: The most intense manhunt in history finally caught up with Osama bin Laden, but his life's story will be told many different ways by different people. Reviled in the West as the personification of evil, bin Laden was admired and even revered by some fellow Muslims who embraced his vision of unending jihad against the United States and Arab governments he deemed as infidels.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

Bin Laden's money and preaching inspired the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed some 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, and forever ripped a hole in America's feeling of security in the world.

His actions set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and a clandestine war against extreme Islamic adherents that touched scores of countries on every continent but Antarctica. America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.

Bin Laden was killed in an operation led by the United States, President Barack Obama said Sunday. A small team of Americans carried out the attack and took custody of bin Laden's remains, Obama said.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization has also been blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 231 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled

Perhaps as significant was his ability -- even from hiding -- to inspire a new generation of terrorists to murder in his name. Most of al-Qaeda's top lieutenants have been killed or captured in the years since Sept. 11, 2001, and intelligence officials in Europe and Asia say they now see a greater threat from homegrown radical groups energized by bin Laden's cause.

Al-Qaeda is not thought to have provided logistical or financial support to the group of North African Muslims who pulled off the March 11, 2004, bombings in Madrid, Spain -- which killed 191 people -- but they were certainly inspired by its dream of worldwide jihad. Likewise, no link has been established between Al-Qaeda and the four British Muslim suicide bombers who killed 52 people in London on July 7, 2005, but few believe the attack would have taken place had bin Laden not aroused the passions of young Muslim radicals the world over.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

The war in Iraq -- justified in part by erroneous intelligence that suggested Saddam Hussein had both weapons of mass destruction and a link to al-Qaeda -- has become the cauldron in which the world's next generation of terrorists are honing their skills.

While scant evidence has emerged of a link between Saddam and bin Laden's inner circle, there is no doubt that Al-Qaeda took advantage of the chaos of post-Saddam Iraq -- helping to drag the United States into a quagmire that led to the death of some 5,000 American troops, and many scores of thousands of Iraqis.

Indeed, bin Laden's legacy is a world still very much on edge.

Frightening terms like dirty bomb, anthrax and weapons of mass destruction have become staples of the global vocabulary; and others like Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and extraordinary rendition have fueled a burning anger in the Muslim world.

But long before bin Laden became the world's most hunted man, few believed fate would move him in that direction.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

Bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia in 1954. He became known as the most pious of the sons among his wealthy father's 54 children. Bin Laden's path to militant Islam began as a teenager in the 1970s when he got caught up in the fundamentalist movement then sweeping Saudi Arabia. He was a voracious reader of Islamic literature and listened to weekly sermons in the holy city of Mecca.

Thin, bearded and over 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall, bin Laden joined the Afghans' war against invading Soviet troops in the 1980s and gained a reputation as a courageous and resourceful commander. Access to his family's considerable construction fortune certainly helped raise his profile among the mujahedeen fighters.

At the time, bin Laden's interests converged with those of the United States, which backed the ``holy war'' against Soviet occupation with money and arms.

When bin Laden returned home to Saudi Arabia, he was showered with praise and donations and was in demand as a speaker in mosques and homes. It did not take long for his aims to diverge from those of his former Western supporters.

"When we buy American goods, we are accomplices in the murder of Palestinians", he said in one of the cassettes made of his speeches from those days.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

A seminal moment in bin Laden's life came in 1990, when U.S. troops landed on Saudi soil to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.

Bin Laden tried to dissuade the government from allowing non-Muslim armies into the land where the Prophet Muhammad gave birth to Islam, but the Saudi leadership turned to the United States to protect its vast oil reserves. When bin Laden continued criticizing Riyadh's close alliance with Washington, he was stripped of Saudi citizenship.

"I saw radical changes in his personality as he changed from a calm, peaceful and gentle man interested in helping Muslims into a person who believed that he would be able to amass and command an army to liberate Kuwait. It revealed his arrogance and his haughtiness", Prince Turki, the former Saudi intelligence chief, said in an interview with Arab News and MBC television in late 2001.

"His behavior at that time left no impression that he would become what he has become", the prince added.

The prince, who said he met bin Laden several times years ago in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, described him as "a gentle, enthusiastic young man of few words who didn't raise his voice while talking".

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of Al-Quds al-Arabi, London-based newspaper, spent 10 days with bin Laden in an Afghan cave in 1996. He said bin Laden ``touched the root of the grievances of millions in the Arab world'' when he presented himself as the alternative to Arab regimes that have been incapable of liberating Arab land from Israeli occupation and restoring pride to their people.

He said bin Laden and his followers never feared death.

"Those guys spoke about death the way young men talk about going to the disco,'' Atwan said. ``They envied those who fell in battle because they died as martyrs in God's cause.''

Still, bin Laden had a knack for staying alive.

After being kicked out of Saudi Arabia, bin Laden sought refuge in Sudan. The African country acceded to a U.S. request and offered to turn bin Laden over to Saudi Arabia in 1996, but his native country declined, afraid a trial would destabilize the country.

Back on familiar terrain in Afghanistan -- allowed in by the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani -- bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network prepared for the holy war that turned him into Washington's No. 1 enemy.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

When the Taliban -- who would eventually give him refuge -- first took control of Kabul in September 1996, bin Laden and his Arab followers kept a low profile, uncertain of their welcome under the new regime. The Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar called bin Laden to southern Kandahar from his headquarters in Tora Bora and eventually through large and continual financial contributions to the isolated Taliban, bin Laden became dependent on the religious militia for his survival.

In Afghanistan, he would wake before dawn for prayers, then eat a simple breakfast of cheese and bread. He closely monitored world affairs. Almost daily, he and his men -- Egyptians, Yemenis, Saudis, among others -- practiced attacks, hurling explosives at targets and shooting at imaginary enemies.

He also went horseback riding, his favorite hobby, and enjoyed playing traditional healer, often prescribing honey, his favorite food, and herbs to treat colds and other illnesses. In Afghanistan, bin Laden was often accompanied by his four wives -- the maximum Islam allows. Estimates on the number of his children range up to 23.

Al-Qaeda's first major strike after bin Laden returned to Afghanistan was on Aug. 7, 1998, when twin explosions rocked US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Most of the victims were African passers-by, but the bombings also killed 12 Americans.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

Days later, bin Laden escaped a cruise missile strike on one of his training camps in Afghanistan launched by the United States in retaliation. Bin Laden is believed to have been at the Zhawar Kili Al-Badr camp for a meeting with several of his top men, but left shortly before some 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles slammed into the dusty complex.

Since Sept. 11, bin Laden stayed a step ahead of the dragnet -- perhaps the largest in history for a single individual.

As the Taliban quickly fell under pressure of the U.S. bombardment, bin Laden fled into the inhospitable mountains in the seam that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan, keeping up a spotty stream of chatter -- first in video tapes and then in scratchy audio recordings -- to warn his Western pursuers of more bloodshed.

Just hours after the U.S. assault on Afghanistan began on Oct. 7, 2001, bin Laden appeared in a video delivered to Al-Jazeera, an Arab satellite television station, to issue a threat to America. "I swear by God ... neither America nor the people who live in it will dream of security before we live it in Palestine, and not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad, peace be upon him,'' said bin Laden, dressed in fatigues.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

He reappeared in a video appearance broadcast by Al-Jazeera on Dec. 27, 2001, shortly after U.S. forces apparently had him cornered in Tora Bora, a giant cave complex in eastern Afghanistan. Hundreds of al-Qaida suspects are believed to have escaped the massive U.S. bombing campaign there, and bin Laden is believed to have been among them.

During the past decade, bin Laden and deputy Ayman al-Zawahri have appeared regularly in audio and video tapes to issue threats, and comment on a wide range of current events, although the appearances trailed off in recent years.

In November 2002, bin Laden threatened Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and Australia for their support for the United States, saying "It is time we get even. You will be killed just as you kill, and will be bombed just as you bomb.'' Later, he called on Muslims to rise up against leaders in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait he saw as Washington's stooges.

In 2004, he tried a new tack, offering a 'truce' to European countries that don't attack Muslims, then later saying that the United States could avoid another Sept. 11 attack if it stopped threatening the security of Muslims.

Bin Laden: A life of fanaticism and terror

After a long silence, bin Laden stepped up his messages in 2006, and the subjects he addressed became more political. In January 2006, he addressed his comments to the American people rather than U.S. President George W. Bush because, he said, polls showed ``an overwhelming majority'' of Americans wanted a withdrawal from Iraq. He even recommended Americans pick up a copy of the book ``The Rogue State,'' which he said offered a path to peace.

At several points in the years since the Sept. 11 attacks, bin Laden's capture or death had appeared imminent. After the March 2003 arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, officials in Islamabad and Washington were paraded out to deny a consistent stream of rumors that bin Laden had been captured.

U.S. forces poured into the border region looking for him and former Taliban and Taliban in hiding said bin Laden had constantly been on the move, traveling through the mountains with a small entourage of security.

Through it all, bin Laden vowed repeatedly that he was willing to die in his fight to drive the Israelis from Jerusalem and Americans from Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

"America can't get me alive", bin Laden was quoted as saying in an interview with a Pakistani journalist conducted shortly after the US invasion of Afghanistan. "I can be eliminated, but not my mission."

Source: AP

How the US tracked couriers to elaborate bin Laden compound

First intelligence of a courier, then an extraordinary house with high walls — and no telephone or Internet. Bin Laden and a son are among five killed in a firefight.

msnbc.com and NBC News

updated 1 hour 47 minutes ago

Share
Print
Font:

Only on msnbc.com

U.S. intelligence officials were aware of bin Laden's growing radicalism before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and began assembling a dossier on him.

Video: Obama confirms bin Laden is dead

In 2007, the U.S. learned the man's name.

In 2009, "we identified areas in Pakistan where the courier and his brother operated. They were very careful, reinforcing belief we were on the right track."

In August 2010, "we found their home in Abbottabad," not in a cave, not right along the Afghanistan border, but in an affluent suburb less than 40 miles from the capital.

"When we saw the compound, we were shocked by what we saw: an extraordinarily unique compound."

Death of Osama bin Laden

The plot of land was roughly eight times larger than the other homes in the area. It was built in 2005 on the outskirts of town, but now some other homes are nearby.

And unusual for a compound valued at more than $1 million: It had no telephone or Internet service.

This home, U.S. intelligence analysts concluded, was "custom built to hide someone of significance."