n US troops were under orders to kill n Al-Zawahri expected to head Al-Qaeda WASHINGTON: Osama Bin Laden, the world's most-wanted man and the elusive mastermind behind the devastating Sept.11, 2001, was killed in a firefight with elite American forces Monday, then quickly buried at sea in a stunning finale to a furtive decade on the run. Bin Laden's death at a compound in Pakistan ended a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade, and jubilant crowds gathered outside the White House and at ground zero in New York, where the twin towers were brought down by Bin Laden's hijackers 10 years ago. “Justice has been done,” President Barack Obama announced in a televised statement. A small team of Americans killed Bin Laden early Monday local time in the town of Abbottabad, about 100 kilometers north of the capital Islamabad, US and Pakistani officials said. The team took custody of his remains and an American official said Bin Laden had been buried at sea. Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of Bin Laden's sons, whom officials did not name. One of Bin Laden's sons, Hamza, is a senior member of Al-Qaeda. US officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured. US officials said the CIA tracked Bin Laden to his location, then elite troops from Navy SEAL Team Six, a top military counterterrorism unit, flew to the hideout in four helicopters. Bin Laden was shot in the head in an ensuing firefight, these officials said, adding that he and his guards had resisted his attackers. US personnel identified him by facial recognition, the official said. Obama said neither Americans nor civilians were harmed in the operation. Another senior US official said that US troops were under orders to kill not capture Bin Landen. “This was a kill operation,” he said speaking under condition of anonymity. The death of the world's most-wanted man came just months before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organization, that killed more than 3,000 people. The United States attacked Afghanistan within months, pursuing Al-Qaeda, and an invasion of Iraq followed. Obama provided few details of the operation in his late Sunday night address to the nation beyond saying that he had personally ordered it be carried out. Other officials said it was so secretive that no foreign officials were informed in advance, and only a small circle inside the administration was aware of what was unfolding half a world away. But within hours of the announcement, Pakistani officials and a witness said Bin Laden's guards had opened fire from the roof of the building, and one of the choppers crashed. The sound of at least two explosions rocked the small northwestern town of Abbottabad, where the Al-Qaeda chief made his last stand. Flames were visible after the attack on the building, about 100 meters from the gates of a Pakistani military academy — certain to raise questions about Al-Qaeda's ability to build a custom-made hideout in such close proximity. The White House said Obama convened at least nine meetings with top national security officials in the lead-up to the raid. The president spent part of the day on the golf course, but cut his round short to return to the White House for a meeting where he and top national security aides reviewed final preparations for the raid. Two hours later, Obama was told that Bin Laden had been tentatively identified. Bin Laden was buried at sea because Islamic practice and tradition calls for speedy burial, a US official said, but did not say where. Finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult, the official added. 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 became clear the hideout was Bin Laden's. Based on statements given by US detainees, intelligence officials have known for years that Bin Laden trusted one Al-Qaeda courier in particular and they believed he might be living with him in hiding. In November, intelligence officials found out he was living in the huge fortified compound. It was surrounded by walls as high as 18 feet, topped with barbed wire. There were two security gates and no phone or Internet running into the house. Intelligence officials believed the $1 million home was custom-built to harbor a major terrorist. CIA experts analyzed whether it could be anyone else, but time and again, they decided it was almost certainly Bin Laden. Officials also said they believe the death puts Al-Qaeda 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. Zawahri, the Egyptian-born doctor and surgeon who is expected to succeed Bin Laden, has been the brains behind the Al-Qaeda network, and at times its most public face, repeatedly denouncing the United States and its allies in video messages. Last month, he urged Muslims to fight NATO and American forces in Libya. Like Bin Laden, Zawahri has long been thought to be hiding along the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border. 2003. Analysts have described Zawahri as Al-Qaeda's chief organizer and Bin Laden's closest mentor. “Ayman is for Bin Laden like the brain to the body,” said Montasser Al-Zayat, a lawyer in Cairo who once represented Zawahri. — AgenciesCaption: US President Barack Obama announces the death of Osama Bin Laden in a televised statement from the White House, Sunday. (AP) __
