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Digital News Report – President Barack Obama told America that Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan Monday. Bin Laden, who had been the target of three U.S. Presidents for nearly two decades, was killed in Abbottabad, about 100 miles north of Islamabad.
The World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon were both targets of al Qaeda on September 11th 2011. “We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda — an organization headed by Osama bin Laden,” the President said late Sunday night. Al Qaeda “openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe”.
In August the intelligence community received a lead on the location of bin Laden. After months of research, last week the President gave the go-ahead.
There was a gun battle between U.S. forces and the al Qaeda leader. “No Americans were harmed,” the President said. “They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”
In accordance with Muslim traditions, the dead must be buried within 24-hours. Both AP and CBS are reporting that bin Laden’s body has already been buried at sea. Since Saudi Arabia refused to have the body “repatriated”, the body was disposed of at sea. Although the source was U.S. officials, the administration has not formally made a statement on that matter.
By Mark Williams
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