May 2, 2011 goes down in history as the day the US forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Historic and finally, closure for the families of so many people killed by his terror outfit -- Al Qaeda.

So as you can imagine, if you've just joined us, almost every news post we've had today was about the man and reactions to his death.

Scroll down if you want to know anything that's worth reading, about the man. Also stay with rediff.com, as we give you constant updates on all the other news, including Osama's death.

India TV headline says it with passion: Osama ki 'khopdi' khallas.

Erm, do you want to watch: Osama ki akhri secret adda? Tune in at 8 pm.

A story from the Times, London.

Osama bin Laden is worth more to the United States alive than dead because his death could unleash "very,very nasty" attacks by militants, his son has claimed.

In a rambling interview with Rolling Stone magazine, which was conducted in part in a Damascus strip club, the terror leader's fourth-eldest son, Omar Osama bin Laden, said that his father had already won the War on Terror because he had achieved his aim of humbling the US and would probably not feel the need to launch more big attacks.

Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu is still missing and the poor chap has barely made it to the news today, what with Osama's death.

Inclement weather today affected the aerial search to trace the missing helicopter carrying the CM and four others even as the Army, SSB, ITBP and the state police launched a massive ground operations to locate it. The chopper has been missing since Saturday.

Defence sources said 30 columns of the Indian Army comprising 2,400 personnel from Tawang and Tenga were pressed in different locations along the Indo-Bhutan border on ground search.

Sukhoi planes had helped in locating the wreckage of the missing chopper of the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in September, 2009. Reddy and four others on board the chopper died.

Here's the answer to the big question: Why did the US bury Osama at sea?

After spending many years hunting down the world's most wanted man, why did the US bury Osama bin Laden at sea within 24 hours of killing him?

The reason is bound up within Islamic practice and tradition. And that practice calls for the body of the deceased to be buried within 24 hours, reports Time Magazine.

Find out why he was buried at sea

The Shunglu Committee has found that senior officials of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee "pre-decided" to choose a Swiss firm for giving the Timing, Scoring and Result (TSR) project "prior to the award of contract".

In its report, the Committee was critical on the role of top OC brass for manipulating tender process in the Rs 141 crore-controversial contract.

The CBI is currently probing the contract for alleged financial bunglings. "At various meetings prior to the award of contract, senior OC officials had asserted that Swiss Timing would be awarded the contract for TSR," the Committee said in its report submitted to the Prime Minister's Office.

CBI officials have arrested sacked Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, secretary general Lalit Bhanot, director general V K Verma, deputy director General (Procurement) Surjeet Lal and joint director general (Sports) A S V Prasad for their alleged involvement in the deal that caused a loss of Rs 95 crore to the exchequer.

Think it's time you and we deserve a break from the late Osama bin Laden.

Remember the Lokpal Bill? Nevermind if you don't, this is for readers who do. Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal today described the second meeting to be conducive, saying the bill would be introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament by June 30. "The meeting was extremely conducive to the dialogue that we have decided to initiate. We hope that by June 30, we would have decided on the broad contours and drafted a Lokpal Bill to be introduced in Parliament,' said Sibal, reiterating that the government is committed to bring in an effective Lokpal Bill to deal with the menace of corruption.

Meanwhile, the The Delhi High Court today dismissed a plea for the removal of activist Anna Hazare (the man who spearheaded the Lokpal Bill movement) from the Lokpal Bill drafting committee on grounds of alleged corruption in one of his trusts, saying setting up of the panel was in the executive's exclusive domain.

An analysis from the NYT:

The killing ofOsama bin Laden,deep insidePakistanin an American operation, almost in plain sight in a medium-sized city that hosts numerous Pakistani forces, seems certain to further inflame tensions between the United States and Pakistan and raise significant questions about whether elements of the Pakistani spy agency knew the whereabouts of the leader ofAl Qaeda. Read more

Also read our 16:54 pm update: What Pakistan knew about Osama

Now that Osama is dead, the most intriguing question is this: Did any Pakistani officials help hide him?

The New Yorker reports: We're entitled to ask. Ever since 9/11-- indeed, even before Pakistan's military and intelligence services have played a high-stakes double game. They've supported American efforts to kill and capture Al Qaeda fighters, and they have been lavished with billions of American dollars in return.

At the same time, elements of those same military and intelligence services, particularly those inside Inter-Service Intelligence, or the ISI, have provided support for America's enemies, namely the Taliban and its lethal off-shoot, the Haqqani network.

Read more

Here's an interesting piece of information: Abbottabad, the place in Pakistan. where Osama bin Laden was killed today, is a poem byMajor James Abbottwho wrote the work about his experience of living in the area before leaving it.

He was impressed by beauty of the area. The Pakistani cityAbbottabad, which he founded (then capital of the Hazara District of British India), is named after him.

See more

Two wives and four children of Osama bin Laden have been taken into custody after he was killed by US special force's commandos in Abbottabad. However it was not immediately known under whose custody they are currently in.

The operation by the elite Navy seals resulted in the death of bin Laden, one of his sons, two suspected couriers and a woman who was being used as a human shield. Pakistani troops have sealed off the compound and blocked all roads leading to it.

Reactions:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai: Karzai said he hopes the world believes that his country is "not the place of terrorism" after the announcement that the al Qaeda leader was killed in neighboring Pakistan. "If the international troops are the true allies of Afghans, now they should come up to say that killing of the Afghans, women, children and elders was not a good idea in the last many years as it was happening on a daily basis," Karzai said.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard: "Our fight against terrorism does not end with bin Laden's death. We must remain vigilant against the threat posed by al Qaeda and the groups it has inspired."

British Prime Minister David Cameron: "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," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "With the commando action against Osama bin Laden and his killing, the US military has achieved a decisive strike against al Qaeda," she said.

An amazing picture of Osama bin Laden holidaying with his brothers and sisters in Sweden. He was just 14. Osama's dad had 52 children from different wives. Osama was child #17.

See

Locals in Abbottabad are apparently upset at the new-found notoriety of their home, at least one key operative in the past, has used the place as home --al Qaeda operationalchief Abu Faraj al Libbi. Al Libbi was captured in Mardan in May 2005 by Pakistani forces and had a long-term association with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, reports the Pakistani paper, the Express Tribune.

Read more

In our 10:43 am post we said that a Major General's car was blown up in Jammu.

However, later reports suggest this is what happened.

One person was killed and 10 others were injured, while a senior Army officer escaped unhurt in a car-bomb blast triggered by militants on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur district.

The blast took place in a car parked at Bermi bridge, 65 km from here and a high security Army area, on the highway.

Suspected militants triggered the explosion through a remote control when the car of Major General D S Pathania was passing through the bridge, they said.

Though the Army officer escaped unhurt, window panes of the car were damaged, police said.

A milk vendor, identified as Kuldeep Kumar, was killed and 10 others were injured in the explosion.

InAfghanistan, whereOsama bin Ladenwas based for many years and whereAl Qaedahelped to train and pay insurgents, there was relief and uncertainty about how his death would play out in the fraught regional power politics now shaping the war.

While senior political figures welcomed the news of his death, they cautioned that it did not necessarily translate into an immediate military victory over theTaliban, and urged the United States andNATOnot to use it as a reason to withdraw.

Read more

On cnn.com, Diana Massaroli, whose husband Michael was killed on September 11, 2001 when a jet plane slammed into the World Trade Center, saidthe death of bin Laden helped give her closure.

"I'm missing him, but I feel that justice has been done," she said at Ground Zero, the site where the World Trade Center once stood, holding a picture of Michael.

"I feel some overall calm that I haven't felt in 10 years. I never thought it would happen... never thought it would give me a feeling of closure," she said. But, she added, "I feel better... like I can start a new chapter in my life."

On twitter: "No body = no proof. No WMD = no justification for war.

Derek O'Brien:Mere coincidence: May 1, 2011: The US announced the death ofOsama. On May 1, 1945 Germany announced the death ofHitler.

On twitter: Are we going to see a real life video of the body? Why have/would they bury him at sea? Why has he not been shown to the world like Saddam was.

Point. Why the rush?

Why Osama bin Laden's death is unlikely to inspire a huge generation of jihadists.

A report from the Al Arabiya: It may have taken 10 years to track him down, but the timing of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden could hardly have been better.

With Al Qaeda marginalized by the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, the risk of Mr Bin Laden, the world's most wanted fugitive, becoming a martyr capable of inspiring jihadists across the globe in death as much as he did while alive has been substantially diminished.

Read why

Details are emerging of how Osama Bin Laden was found and killed at a fortified compound on the outskirts of Abbottabad in north-west Pakistan.

The bbc.co.uk says that the target of the operation was the compound, which had at its centre a large three-storey building.

When the helicopters landed outside, men emerged from the aircraft and spoke to locals in Pashto.

People living in an area known as Tanda Choha were told to to switch off their lights and not to leave their homes. Shortly afterwards residents heard shots being fired and the sound of heavy firearms.

Read the blow-by-blow (literally) account

Must read. The Time Magazine obituary on Osama bin Laden.

"Almost 10 years ago, Osama bin Laden ghosted away from the Afghan battlefields. Since then, it is as if the doomsday sheikh had slipped into a twilight zone where the only proof that he was alive was the chilling voice on a spool of tape, the occasional video image '" and a string of terrorist outrages and wars lengthening around the globe that claim inspiration from him and his cause."

Read

Just in: The Pakistan government on the backfoot, has lodged an official protest against the US action. The government reiterated that they had absolutely no idea that Osama was living in Abbottabad or how he got there.

Read our 13:43 pm post: Mush: Killing Osama on Pak soil is a violation

Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan:

"In an intelligence driven operation, Osama Bin Ladin was killed in the surroundings of Abbotabad in the early hours of this morning.

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

Earlier today, President Obama telephoned President Zardari on the successful US operation which resulted in killing of Osama bin Ladin.

Osama bin Ladin's death illustrates the resolve of the international community including Pakistan to fight and eliminate terrorism. It constitutes a major setback to terrorist organizations around the world.

Read more

This is what earlier repors said: US officials now say they have carried out DNA tests used facial imaging and other methods to identify the body of Osama bin Laden. The DNA test results will be revealed in two days.

His body has been buried at sea as the US does not want his burial place to become a terrorist shrine, officials have said.

For years, most intelligence estimates figured that Osama bin Laden was holed up in Pakistan's tribal areas, close to the Afghan border, possibly in a cave sheltered by loyal tribesmen.

But the US-conducted operations yesterday revealed that he lived in a two-storey house just yards from Pakistan's Military Academy in Abbottabad, a town close to the capital Islamabad.

Osama's killing brought to an end the most intense manhunt in history and as the four helicopters swooped down on the isolated villa, bin Laden's Arab bodyguards opened fire from the roof of the house.

US officials, who did not want to be named, said the discovery that bin Laden was holed up in an army town in Pakistan raised pointed questions about how he managed to evade capture and whether Pakistan's military intelligence knew about his whereabouts and sheltered him.

(Are you listening, Musharraf?)

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff says: America coming to our territory and taking action is a violation of our sovereignity. The handling and execution of the operation is not correct. The Pakistani government should have been kept in the loop. If there is a lack of trust, its bad. We are fighting the same enemy. It's wrong, strategically. The issue of trust is very bad.

And even better: "People who said he wasn't in Pakistan should have thought before they spoke. I mostly said, "I don't know"

Read our 13:18 pm post: Why US did not tell Pak about the operation

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf says Osama's killing is a victory for all peace loving people in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a high alert has been sounded today across the Pakistani capital and security was beefed up in the diplomatic area, especially around the US embassy, following Osama's killing.

Security has also been strengthened around the US consulates in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi.

Even the American school would be closed tomorrow as part of the security arrangement.

US officials now say they have carried out DNA tests used facial imaging and other methods to identify the body of Osama bin Laden. The DNA test results will be revealed in two days.

His body has been buried at sea as the US does not want his burial place to become a terrorist shrine, officials have said.

The Saudi-born terrorist, who had evaded capture for a decade, was killed in a top secret operation involving a small team of US special forces in Abbottabad city, located 50 kilometres northeast of Islamabad and 150 kilometres east of Peshawar, Pakistan

"We are ensuring it is handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition. It's something we take seriously, and therefore, it's being handled in an appropriate manner,' ABC News quoted a senior Obama administration official, as saying.

Under Islamic tradition, the body would be washed by Muslim men and buried as soon as possible. and the face."

Pakistan was kept in dark till the operation to kill Osama bin Laden was successfully accomplished inside the country close to the capital Islamabad, US officials said.

After the four helicopters carrying US special forces swooped down and killed the world's most wanted man as he was holed up in a two-storey house, just 100 yards from the Pakistani Military Academy, US President Barack Obama called his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari to inform him of the mission accomplished.

"We are very concerned that he (bin Laden) was inside Pakistan, but this is something that we're going to continue to work with the Pakistani government on," a senior administration official said.

The Obama Administration shared intelligence on the bin Laden operation with no other country, including Pakistan, sources said.

"That was for one reason and one reason alone: We believed it was essential to the security of the operation and our personnel... that only a very small group of people inside our own government knew of the operation," an official said.

Earlier in the day, the US officials said the body of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was killed at Abbottabad in Pakistan today, would be handled in Islamic tradition, , without elaborating whether it will be taken to America or buried in Pakistan.

But now, unconfirmedreports suggest that his body has been disposed off at sea as per Islamic traditions.

Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have both refused to take the dead body of Osama Bin Ladin from the Americans. According to an intelligence source, "Pakistan was asked to take the dead body of Osama Bin Ladin, which the country rejected, saying he was not a Pakistani citizen.

Saudi Arabia was asked to claim the dead body,but refused to do so. The body is still in the custody of the Americans and no one is allowed to visit the spot where the operation took place.

US officials said they used facial imaging and other methods to identify the body of Osama bin Laden.

One official said it was clear to the assault force that the body matched bin Laden's description, but they used "facial recognition work, amongst other things, to confirm the identity."

A senior national security official said that they had multiple confirmations that the body was bin Laden, saying they had the "ability to run images of the body and the face."

The national security official would not confirm if DNA testing was performed.

Is this Osama's body?

The criminal mastermind behind al-Qaida and the world's most sought-after terrorist since the attacks of 11 September 2001: The Osama Bin Laden obituary from the Guardian.

Read what made the man tick

A must read by Lawrence Wright in the New Yorker, on Dr Ayman al-Zawahari, the number two person in Al Qaeda and now de facto number one.

Last March, a band of horsemen journeyed through the province of Paktika, in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. Predator drones were circling the skies and American troops were sweeping through the mountains. The war had begun six months earlier, and by now the fighting had narrowed down to the ragged eastern edge of the country.

Regional warlords had been bought off, the borders supposedly sealed. For twelve days, American and coalition forces had been bombing the nearby Shah-e-Kot Valley and systematically destroying the cave complexes in the Al Qaeda stronghold. And yet the horsemen were riding unhindered toward Pakistan.

A break from news of Osama, with a read from MK Bhadrakumar's blog:

Unsurprisingly, Delhi kept on low key the weekend visit by Marc Grossman, US special representative on Afghanistan, taking note that Washington hastened to characterise the visit as "routine consultations' (implying nothing much should be read into it).

Grossman's priority would have been not to raise hackles in Islamabad which was his next port of call and, that too, when US-Pak ties are on a roller coaster.

So, on balance, Delhi may have to rest its oars and be satisfied with the US-India-Japan trilateral forum. Ishah Allah, a forum (involving US and Afghanistan) which would give China's proposed 'arrangement' with Pakistan and Afghanistan a run for the money would materialise some day in the womb of time.

Read more

We told you a while ago that Osama's son was killed in the air strike; now reports say Osama's six other sons and three wives were captured in the attack.

Top US lawmakers today warned that although the militant mastermind may be dead his organisation al Qaeda and its affiliates still live on.

"The killing of Osama bin Laden closes an important chapter in our war against extremists who kill innocent people around the world," Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said.

"A single death does not end the threat from al Qaeda and its affiliated groups. We must remain vigilant and committed to keeping the world safe and secure," he noted. He said this is a victory for US intelligence and military professionals and a victory for the American people.

He said it brings a sense of relief to all of those who lost loved ones on 9/11. "The face of al Qaeda is dead. But the organisation and its adherents live on. While we can rejoice, we can't let our guard down," he added.

The September 11 mastermind was hiding out in a mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 80 miles north of Islamabad. Bin Laden's compound is just north, of a hospital for women and children and a cinema.

About 800 feet to the west is the Cantt Police Station. There's little information available about the station online, but aFlickr phototaken in February 2007 shows it in rough condition. The station, at that time, was "included in the demolition list of the provincial government works department," the caption claims.

See the pictures, read the story

Unconfirmed, but this could be a picture of the Osama bin Laden's body.

http://yfrog.com/h4l7ktydj

News snips:

• The Al-Qaeda chief carried a bounty of USD 25 million.
• Two couriers one of whom was his son and the other a woman, reportedly used as a human shields, were killed in the operation.
• First reports said that it was through these couriers that bin Laden had been traced.
• Two US helicopters swept into the compound at 1:30 am and 2 am and 20 to 25 Navy Seals under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command stormed the compound in cooperation with the CIA and engaged bin Laden and his men in a firefight
• The Americans took bin Laden's body into custody after the firefight and confirmed his identity.

Security was strengthened around the US embassy and nearby areas in New Delhi today following the killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by American forces in Pakistan.

The United States has also issued a worldwide travel alert for its citizens, especially those living in Pakistan, soon after President Barack Obama announced that bin Laden has been killed.

So, how did the US finally get Osama.

Apparently fearing a leak, the US did not inform Pakistan about the closely guarded operation on the outskirts of Islamabad today that resulted in the death of al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, a senior administration official said.

"The information was not shared with any other country including Pakistan," the official said, adding that in such a kind of operation, the information is kept only to a few people and this was done in this case too.

The official told White House correspondents that the successful 40-minute operation was carried out by two US helicopters. Besides, Osama bin Laden, three men and one woman was killed in this operation. One helicopter was damaged due to mechanical failure, but no US special forces were injured or hurt in this operation.

The statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.

President Obama of the United States has just announced that his government has conducted a successful operation that has resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistan.

This operation brings to closure an almost decade-long search for the head of the Al Qaeda. It is a historic development and victorious milestone in the global war against the forces of terrorism.

Over the years, thousands of innocent lives of men, women and children have been tragically lost at the hands of terrorist groups. The world must not let down its united effort to overcome terrorism and eliminate the safe havens and sanctuaries that have been provided to terrorists in our own neighbourhood. The struggle must continue unabated. New Delhi."

Thenews that Osama bin Laden has been killed in a CIA operationwill have a massive "although yet-to-be-fully determined" impact on the political landscape of the country.

The Washington Post writes that the simple fact is that there is and will continue to be a huge desire for the details of how, when and where he was killed as well as analysis of what it means for American foreign policy.

Media coverage for days '" if not weeks '" will be dominated by the news. That landslide of coverage/attention will force anyone operating in the political space to respond to it. So, while this news is not political, it will cause major reverberations in the political world.

Read more

Chants of "USA! USA!" coming from crowds outside the White House,at WTC Ground Zero, atbaseballgames across theUS.

"It's just the most out-of body experience to feel so involved in history, this such a historic moment for our country right now," says one jubilant woman at the WTC.

While we'll continue to keep you posted on the biggest story of the day, you should know as well, that Air India today cancelled 90 per cent of its domestic flights on the sixth day of the strike by its pilots even as all eyes were now on the Delhi High Court which will take up criminal proceedings against the agitators.

"We have curtailed 90 per cent of our domestic operations and plan to operate just 40 of the 320 daily flights. This curtailment is likely to continue till the strike is withdrawn," a Air India spokesperson said.

The airline management is sticking to its stand that they would hold "no talks with the striking pilots till get back to their work." Pilots said they were open to the talks and will withdraw the strike if the management gives them assurances about the resolution of their grievances in a time-bound manner.

Top Obama administration official Farah Pandita, a Muslim, on Twitter: May 1, 2011 will remain in my head and heart. Watching people respond to OBL death says it all.

William Dalrymple on FB: Pak certainly has some explaining to do. Its like finding the head of the IRA sheltering on the outskirts of Sandhurst.

Crowds continue to celebrate Osama bin Laden's death at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York and outside the White House in Washington. Cnn.com reports that one of the celebrants in New York, retired New York City police officer Bob Gibson, said he knew people who died in the September 11 attacks.

"I never thought this night would come, where we would actually capture or kill bin Laden, and thank the lord, he's been eliminated, to put it politely," Gibson said.

It's taken 10 years after the 9/11 terror strike, al Qaeda mastermind and world's most dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden was today killed by US forces after being hounded in a special operation in Abbottabad in Pakistan. Bin Laden, 54, is dead and his body is in US custody, President Barack Obama announced today at half past 11 Sunday US time as crowds outside White House chanted 'USA, USA'.

Giving details of the operation, Obama said last week he determined that "we had enough intelligence to take action and authorised an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. "Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan".

The US dollar has rebounded, and stock markets have gained in Asia after US President Barack Obama said Osama Bin Laden was dead, reports bbc.co.uk Oil prices slid more than 1%, while the price of gold and silver also dropped. Analysts said Bin Laden's death was likely to lower security risks, and would help lift consumer sentiment in the US.

Read more

The United States today issued a worldwide travel alert for its citizens, especially those living in Pakistan, soon after President Barack Obama announced that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin-Laden has been killed in an operation outside Islamabad.

US forces killed bin Laden in a special operation in Abbottabad this morning. Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, US citizens in areas where recent events could cause anti-American violence are strongly urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations, the alert said.

US citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times, the travel alert said. The State Department said the US Embassy operations in affected areas will continue to the extent possible under the constraints of any evolving security situation.

Home minister P Chidambaram asks Pakistan to hand over Mumbai terror attack accused to India. He said the killing of Osama underlines India's concern that terrorists belonging to different groups find sanctuary in Pakistan. He said India was on high alert after Osama's killing.

Saying it was the most significant battle against terror, Obama said, "We must also reaffirm that the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims".

The US President also called the Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari, after the US operation was over and told him that this is a good and historic day for both of the nations.

"Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth and power, but because of who we are," he said.

Osama, who created and funded the al Qaeda terror network, was accused of being behind a number of atrocities, including the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001.

He was suspected of playing large roles in the 1998 bombings of two US Embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000.

Almost 10 years after the 9/11 terror strike, al Qaeda mastermind and world's most dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden was today killed by US forces after being hounded in a special operation in Abbottabad in Pakistan. Bin Laden, 54, is dead and his body is in US custody, President Barack Obama announced today at half past 11 Sunday US time as crowds outside White House chanted 'USA, USA'.

Giving details of the operation, Obama said last week he determined that "we had enough intelligence to take action and authorised an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. "Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan".