Associated Press of Pakistan
Obama acknowledges Pakistani cooperation in Osama hunt
WASHINGTON, May 2 (APP): Announcing the death of al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden in an operation, President Barack Obama said counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan led the U.S. to location of the militant leader’s hiding.In a statement, Obama said he also spoke to President Asif Ali Zardari Sunday night. “It is important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to Bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding,” Obama said, acknowleding the Pakistani cooperation.He told Americans on Sunday night ten years after 9/11 terrorist attacks that “justice has been done.” Obama noted that indeed Bin Laden had declared a war against Americans as well as ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.
“Tonight I called President Zardari and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts.”
Obama said they agree that it was a good and historic day for both nations.
Going forward, he said, it is essential that Pakistan continues to join the United States in the fight against al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
The announcement was made by Obama from the East Room of the White House while a crowd of Americans gathered outside and cheered the news.
Members of Congress were briefed on the news by Vice President Joe Biden throughout the weekend, according to a Senate aide.
President Obama said that on Sunday, a small team of operatives launched a targeted assault on a compound in Abbottabad where months of intelligence work had established that Bin Laden was living. Bin Laden was killed after a firefight, and his body was taken into custody.
Obama said shortly after taking office, he had directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of Bin Laden the top priority of the war against al Qaeda, even as the U.S. continued broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.
Last August, he said, after years of painstaking work by the intelligence community, he was briefed on a possible lead to Bin Laden.
“It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located Bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice.”
For over two decades, he remarked, Bin Laden “has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies.”
“The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda. Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must and we will—remain vigilant at home and abroad.”
Obama also used the occasion to “reaffirm that the United States is not - and never will be -at war with Islam.”
“I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own.
So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity,” he said.
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