Osama bin Laden, the elusive mastermind behind the devastating Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that led the United States into war in Afghanistan and later Iraq, was slain in his luxury hideout in Pakistan in a firefight with U.S. forces, President Barack Obama said Sunday night in Washington.

Bin Laden’s death at a compound in Pakistan ended the world’s most widely watched manhunt, 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,’’ Obama said.

The Korean Blue House issued a statement yesterday evening about bin Laden’s death.

“We believe this operation will serve as an important milestone to end terrorism,” Hong Sang-pyo, senior secretary to the president for public affairs, said. “We also believe it will greatly contribute to global peace and security.”

The U.S. State Department early Monday put U.S. embassies on alert and warned of the heightened possibility of anti-American violence after the killing of bin Laden.

A small team of Americans killed bin Laden early Monday local time in the town of Abbottabad, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the capital Islamabad, U.S. and Pakistani officials said. The team took custody of his remains. A U.S. official said he was later buried at sea.

Islamic practice calls for a body to be buried within 24 hours, the official said. Finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world’s most wanted terrorist would have been difficult, the official said. So the U.S. decided to bury him at sea.

Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of bin Laden’s sons, whom officials did not name. U.S. officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured.

 

	Osama bin Laden

U.S. 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. U.S. personnel identified him by facial recognition, the official said, declining to say whether DNA analysis had also been used.

Obama said neither Americans nor civilians were harmed in the operation.

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.

In Korea, the Blue House was informed of bin Laden’s death before Obama made the announcement, said Kim Hee-jung, presidential spokeswoman.

Some Seoul officials told reporters that it appears there will be no major impact on Korea in the short-term, but they will be watching to see if the killing prompts retaliation from Al Qaeda or any changes in Washington’s Middle East policies.

In particular, any possible impact on Korea’s military presence in Afghanistan will be closely watched, the officials said.

Diplomatic analysts said bin Laden’s death could accelerate the scheduled withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan beginning in July, and that could prompt attacks by the Taliban, which is allied with Al Qaeda, against Korea’s provincial reconstruction team bases in Afghanistan.

There were 1,427 Korean soldiers dispatched overseas in 14 countries as of April 20, according to Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, and 349 of them were in Korea’s bases in Afghanistan.

Korea’s base, which is in Charika, Parwan Province, was completed this year and its main function is protecting 300 civilian Korean reconstruction workers.

Recently, Seoul received an intelligence tip that Taliban forces are preparing a massive attack against foreign military bases and other foreign facilities in Afghanistan.

Korea’s base came under rocket-propelled grenades attacks five times in the first four months of this year.

A diplomatic source said, “We’ll have to closely watch the Afghanistan situation in case the Taliban launches attacks against the PRT bases.”

In Washington, Obama provided few details of the operation beyond to say 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.

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.


By Moon Gwang-lip, Ser Myo-ja, AP [joe@joongang.co.kr]