DNA test proves bin Laden’s death – US
Osama bin Laden’s death has been confirmed by DNA tests that show a ‘virtually 100%’ match with the al Qaeda leader, US officials have revealed.
The world’s most-wanted man was buried at sea in the early hours of the morning, after he was killed by a gunshot to the head at a villa in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad.
Officials said his body had also been identified by a woman believed to be one of his wives.
US President Barack Obama said: ‘The world is safer, it is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden.’
A US defence official said Bin Laden was given an Islamic funeral, which involved him being wrapped in a white sheet and washed before being sent overboard.
They said the ceremony took place at sea because other countries – including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan – refused to take custody of the body.
US chief counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan insisted Bin Laden would have been taken alive if there had been the opportunity.
That contradicted sources that had previously claimed the operation had been a ‘kill mission’, with no attempt to capture the target.
He also said Bin Laden had used a woman as a human shield during the firefight.
CIA director Leon Panetta warned al Qaeda was likely to seek to avenge the death of its figurehead.
‘Though Bin Laden is dead, al Qaeda is not,’ he said.
‘The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him.’
Blood-stained carpets, stripped beds and emptied drawers can be seen in footage filmed inside the villa by American broadcaster ABC News following the raid.
‘This was a kill operation,’ a US security official had told the news agency Reuters, refuting any suggestion the troops had aimed to capture Bin Laden.
Video pictures showed flames rising from the scene of the firefight between US forces and Bin Laden’s guards at around 1:30am local time on Monday.
US officials said the CIA tracked Bin Laden to his location, then elite troops from Navy Seal Team Six, a top military counter-terrorism unit, swooped on the hideout in four helicopters.
The al Qaeda leader, blamed for the 9/11 attacks on America in 2001, was reportedly asked to surrender by US forces before he was shot in the head.
After the 40-minute operation, which was carried out without the intervention of the Pakistani military, the troops recovered Bin Laden’s body.
He was buried at sea according to Islamic traditions, US officials said, seemingly in a bid to prevent his grave becoming a shrine.
Pakistani television stations earlier broadcast what they claimed was a photograph of the bloodied face of the world’s most wanted man after his death, but this was later shown to be a fake.
Three men, including one of Bin Laden’s sons, and one woman were also killed when US forces swooped on the compound.
Officials said one of military helicopters suffered mechanical failure during the operation and was destroyed after troops had safely disembarked, leading to the blaze visible at the scene.
‘A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties,’ President Obama said.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner in the UK told Sky News the country’s authorities had not been aware of Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad until after his death.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan nevertheless insisted that there was ‘total cooperation’ between Pakistani authorities and the US government.
Following the operation, President Obama confirmed in a news conference: ‘I can report to the American people and to the world, that the US has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden.’
The US president said he was briefed last summer about a possible lead to the whereabouts of Bin Laden – who fled the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 – and last week appproved an operation ‘to bring Bin Laden to justice’.
Speaking from Downing Street, the Prime Minister David Cameron said the news would be welcomed across the country.
‘It is, I believe, a massive step forward,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office issued an alert to UK nationals overseas, advising them to monitor local reactions and remain vigilant.
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