Obama gets bin Laden

9/11 terror mastermind killed in Pakistan

WASHINGTON (AP):

Osama bin Laden, the glowering mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States, President Barack Obama said yesterday.

A small team of Americans carried out the attack and took custody of bin Laden's remains, the president said in a dramatic late-night statement at the White House.

A jubilant crowd gathered outside the White House as word spread of bin Laden's death after a global manhunt that lasted nearly a decade.

"We can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al-Qaida terror, 'Justice has been done'," Obama said.

The development comes just months before the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden's al-Qaida organisation, that killed more than 3,000 people.

Six days after the attack, President George W. Bush made it clear Osama bin Laden was the No. 1 suspect.

"I want justice," Bush said. "There's an old poster out West that said, 'Wanted, dead or alive'."

Last night, Obama said the demise of bin Laden should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington, DC, chanting "USA, USA" after the news emerged.