Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres, praised US forces for successful operation against arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden.
President Barack Obama announced that bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, had been killed in a US raid in Afghanistan.
“This is a resounding victory for justice, freedom and the common values of all democracies that are resolutely fighting shoulder to shoulder against terrorism,” Netanyahu said.
Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, head of the opposition, also praised the US effort, calling the killing “a change in the equation of the free world’s struggle, led by the US, against terror.”
The US raid apparently took place last week. Bin Laden had been America’s most wanted terrorist for the past ten years after his al-Qaida terrorist organization killed more than 3,000 people in New York and Washington in the most dramatic terrorist attacks in US history.
According to intelligence reports that have come to light since the killing was revealed, Bin Laden had been living in a large home near Islamabad in a compound built with the intention of hiding bin Laden.
According to Bloomberg News, the home, built 5 years earlier, was about 8 times larger than other homes in the area. It’s conspiciousness and tight security drew US attention.
When they first became aware of it, intelligence officials concluded that there was a high-value al-Qaeda target being harbored and a strong probability that it was bin Laden.
Their conclusions came after years of intelligence gathering, largely from detainees and specifically pursuing leads on personal couriers in bin Laden’s inner circle, officials said.
