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Even Al Qaeda Acknowledges Osama bin Laden Is Dead
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 6, 2011
Modified May 6, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published May 6, 2011
Modified May 6, 2011
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Five days after President Obama announced that US forces in Pakistan had successfully located and killed Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda confirmed the death of their leader this morning. They posted a statement on jihadist forums today, which was translated by US monitoring group SITE Intelligence, vowing to avenge his death: "We call upon our Muslim people in Pakistan, on whose land Sheikh Osama was killed, to rise up and revolt to cleanse this shame that has been attached to them by a clique of traitors and thieves who sold everything to the enemies...a curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries."
Although there was much demand to see pictures of bin Laden's body, the White House announced on Wednesday that they wouldn't release any photos: "That's not who we are. We don't trot this stuff out as trophies. We don't need to spike the football," President Obama told 60 MInutes. Hopefully, this Al Qaeda message will stop conspiracy theorists from further demanding "proof" that bin Laden was buried at sea after the mission, and stop bin Laden from becoming "the new Roswell." Maybe next time Al Qaeda can release a song instead of a statement.
More information has been revealed about how bin Laden had been living before his death—Amal al-Sadah, his youngest of five wives, said she did not leave their luxury lair for five years. Asad Munir, a former Pakistani intelligence officer, echoed her statement, saying that bin Laden "never went anywhere," and split his time between only two different rooms, including the one in which he was killed.
Tagged
al-qaeda
Osama bin Laden
Pakistan
president obama
terror
White House
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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