WORLD LEADERS yesterday warned of revenge attacks after Osama bin Laden was killed in a US assault in Pakistan that brought to a dramatic end the long manhunt for the al Qaeda leader who had become the most powerful symbol of Islamist militancy.
Euphoria over the killing of the September 11, 2001 mastermind was tempered in the West by fears of retaliation, and world leaders and security experts urged renewed vigilance against attacks.
Interpol predicted a heightened risk and called for extra vigilance in case followers sought revenge for the killing of the man who became the global face of terror, even if he no longer had tactical control of al Qaeda actions.
Members of militant Islamist forums vowed to avenge bin Laden’s death and CIA Director Leon Panetta said al Qaeda would “almost certainly” attempt some form of retaliation. British Prime Minster David Cameron also said the West would have to be “particularly vigilant” in the weeks ahead.
In Nicosia yesterday Cypriot security forces said they were on heightened alert and had stepped up security at the embassies of western countries and at the island’s two airports, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said. “The police here are therefore taking their own measures, particularly at the points of entry and exit as well as at likely targets that may be selected by terrorists.” He said the ongoing operation, which involved all branches of the police, was being coordinated by the force’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau.
President Barack Obama hailed bin Laden’s death, saying: “The world is safer. It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden.” But the euphoria that drew flag-waving crowds to “Ground Zero” of the New York attacks the Saudi-born militant masterminded a decade ago was tempered by calls for vigilance against retaliation by his followers.
Vows to avenge his death appeared quickly in Islamist militant forums, a key means of passing on information from al Qaeda leaders. “God’s revenge on you, you Roman dog, God’s revenge on you crusaders… this is a tragedy brothers, a tragedy,” one forum member wrote.
Bin Laden was quickly buried at sea after Muslim funeral rites, his shrouded body placed in a weighted bag and tipped from the deck of a US aircraft carrier into the North Arabian Sea, US officials said.
The sea burial was to prevent bin Laden’s gravesite from becoming a rallying point for his followers, “You wouldn’t want to leave him so that his body could become a shrine,” one US official said.
Mindful of possible suspicion in the Muslim world that US forces may have gotten the wrong man, a US official said DNA testing showed a “virtually 100 per cent” match with the al Qaeda leader. His body was also identified by one of his wives, an intelligence official said.
Bin Laden was shot in a firefight when a small US strike team, dropped by helicopter to bin Laden’s hideout near the Pakistani capital Islamabad under the cover of night. “This was a kill operation,” one security official told Reuters, but added: “If he had waved a white flag of surrender he would have been taken alive.”
A source familiar with the US operation said bin Laden was shot in the head after the US military team, which included members of the Navy’s elite Seals unit, stormed his compound. Television pictures from inside the house showed bloodstains smeared across a floor next to a large bed.
The revelation that bin Laden was living in a three-story residence in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, and not as many had speculated, in the country’s lawless western border regions, is a huge embarrassment to Pakistan, whose relations with Washington have frayed under the Obama administration.
While US intelligence officials said Pakistani authorities did not know bin Laden was sheltering there, US lawmakers insisted Islamabad had a lot of questions to answer.
Reflecting a lack of trust between the two countries, US officials said they did not tell Pakistan about the operation until it was over.
In Washington, a crowd gathered outside the White House as Obama announced the conclusion of a decade-long manhunt, singing patriotic songs and chanting slogans. Obama said, “This is a good day for America. “Our country has kept its commitment to see that justice is done.”
Obama, whose popularity has suffered from continuing US economic woes, will likely see a short-term bounce in his approval ratings and it will make it difficult for Republicans to portray Democrats as weak on security as he seeks re-election in 2012. At the same time, he is likely to face mounting pressure from Americans to speed up the planned withdrawal this July of US forces from Afghanistan.
The killing was also hailed by George W Bush, who was president when al Qaeda hijackers slammed airliners into the Pentagon and New York’s World Trade Centre.
“The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done,” Bush said. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he hoped the news would bring closure to those who lost loved ones on Sept. 11.
In contrast to the celebrations in America, on the streets of Saudi Arabia, bin Laden’s native land, there was a mood of disbelief and sorrow among many. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas mourned bin Laden as an “Arab holy warrior.”
But many in the Arab world felt his death was long overdue. For many Arabs, inspired by the popular upheavals in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere over the past few months, the news of bin Laden’s death had less significance than it once might have.
Many analysts see bin Laden’s death as largely symbolic since he was no longer believed to have been issuing operational orders to the many autonomous al Qaeda affiliates around the world.
Despite this, the fear of retaliation is strong. The US warned its citizens worldwide of “enhanced potential for anti-American violence”, advising them to avoid mass gatherings and travel, and Australia issued a similar warning. Iraq’s army and police went on high alert, but Spain said it was not increasing its security alert.
Japan said it would step up patrols around its military bases to guard against revenge attacks, and in countries with big Muslim populations, some foreign schools, embassies and other potential targets put extra security measures in place.
India, whose ties with neighbouring Pakistan are strained, voiced concern that bin Laden was found at a luxury compound just 60 km (35 miles) from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, saying this suggested terrorists could find sanctuary there.
