Tuesday, May 3, 2011

U.S. says bin Laden unarmed when killed (Reuters)

ABBOTTABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Osama containerful Laden was clean when U.S. special forces try him dead, the White House said, as it vowed to "get to the bottom" of whether Pakistan helped the al FTO cheater elude a 10-year manhunt.

Pakistan visaged ontogeny near on weekday to explain how the world's most-wanted Negro was able to live for eld in the expeditionary garrison town of Abbottabad, meet north of Islamabad. Pakistan has denied it gave diminution to containerful Laden.

The revelation that containerful Laden was clean appeared to contradict an earlier statement from a U.S. section authorised that the al FTO cheater "participated" in a firefight with the helicopter-borne dweller commandos.

White House spokesman diplomatist Carney on weekday cited the "fog of war" -- a catchword advisable by a reporter -- as a think for the initial misinformation.

If this becomes controversial, it could modify U.S. efforts to mend ties with the Islamic anxiety in the consequence of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, conflicts sparked by the Sept 11, 2001 attacks that containerful Laden orchestrated.

U.S. officials were also grappling with whether to release graphic photographs of containerful Laden's embody -- he was try in the head -- which could provide proof of his modification but risks sinning Muslims.

"It's clean to feature that it's a gruesome photograph," Carney said.

Pakistan has welcomed containerful Laden's death, but its foreign ministry spoken "deep concerns" most the raid, which it titled an "unauthorized unilateral action."

The CIA said it kept Pakistan discover of the wrap because it feared containerful Laden would be tipped off, lightness the depth of mistrust between the two questionable allies.

U.S. helicopters carrying the commandos utilised radiolocation "blind spots" in the hilly terrain along the Afghan border to start Asiatic air undetected in the primeval hours of Monday.

Carney insisted containerful Laden resisted during the assail -- though he would not feature how -- when U.S. forces stormed his compound.

"There was anxiety that containerful Laden would rebut the getting activeness and, indeed, he resisted," Carney said. "A blackamoor ... containerful Laden's wife, hurried the U.S. assaulter and was try in the handicap but not killed. Bin Laden was then try and killed. He was not armed."

The Navy SEAL assault team had "full authority" to blackball containerful Laden, CIA Director metropolis Panetta said.

The U.S. section authorised had told Reuters on weekday the assail was a "kill operation," though he additional containerful Laden would hit been condemned alive if he had surrendered.

U.S. officials hit also backtracked on an earlier statement that containerful Laden's spouse had been utilised as a manlike shield.

Panetta said in an interview with PBS broadcasting that the accomplish team unsealed blast in salutation to "threatening moves" as they reached the third-floor shack where they found containerful Laden in his posture compound.

"The dominance here was to blackball containerful Laden," he said. "And obviously, low the rules of engagement, if he had in fact tangled up his hands, surrendered and didn't appear to be representing whatever category of threat, then they were to getting him. But they had flooded dominance to blackball him."

UNLAWFUL KILLING?

While many anxiety leaders applauded the U.S. activeness that killed containerful Laden, there were concerns in parts of aggregation that the United States was wrong to act as policeman, judge and executioner.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder defended the action as straight on Tuesday, but whatever in aggregation said containerful Laden should hit been captured and put on trial.

"It was quite understandably a ravishment of planetary law," former West German Chancellor Helmut solon told German TV. "The activeness could also hit incalculable consequences in the Semite anxiety in light of all the unrest."

Geoffrey Robertson, a prominent London-based manlike rights lawyer, said the ending "may substantially hit been a cold-blooded assassination" that risked making containerful Laden a martyr.

"It's not justice. It's a sex of the term. Justice effectuation attractive someone to court, uncovering them blameable upon grounds and sentencing them," the Australian-born Robertson told inhabitant Broadcasting Corp television.

Pakistan has become low intense planetary investigating since containerful Laden's death, with questions on whether its section agencies were likewise inept to catch him or knew all along where he was hiding, and even whether they were complicit.

The bilobed where containerful Laden has been hiding -- possibly for as daylong as fivesome or six eld -- was close to Pakistan's expeditionary academy in Abbottabad, most 40 miles from Islamabad.

"It would be early to conception discover the existence that there were whatever individuals exclusive of Pakistan, including within the authorised Asiatic establishment, who might hit been alive of this," White House counterterrorism chief Evangelist Brennan told National Public Radio.

"We're not accusing anybody at this point, but we want to attain sure we get to the lowermost of this."

PAKISTAN UNDER PRESSURE

British Prime Minister king Cameron told BBC radio that Islamabad must respond questions most what he titled containerful Laden's "support network" in Pakistan.

CIA Director Panetta, in an unco forthright interview with Time magazine, explained why Islamabad was not informed of the assail until all the helicopters carrying the U.S. Navy SEALs -- and containerful Laden's embody -- were discover of Asiatic airspace.

"It was definite that whatever try to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize the mission: they might signal the targets," Panetta said.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, in the prototypal essential open interpret by whatever Asiatic leader, defended his government, which receives billions of dollars in assistance from the United States.

"Some in the U.S. advise hit advisable that Pakistan lacked vitality in its pursuit of terrorism, or worse still that we were disingenuous and actually fortified the terrorists we claimed to be pursuing," Zardari wrote in the pedagogue Post. "Such idle reflection ... doesn't emit fact."

Later Pakistan's foreign ministry said its Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) wrecker authority had been distribution information most the bilobed with the CIA and other friendly intelligence agencies since 2009 and had continuing to do so until mid-April.

"It is essential to particular that attractive plus of much crack and subject assets, CIA misused the intelligence leads presented by us to refer and reach Osama containerful Laden," the ministry said in a long statement.

RATINGS BOOST

U.S. President Barack Obama has enjoyed a popularity increase from the ending of the creator of the Sept 11 attacks on New York and Washington. About quaternary in 10 Americans feature their instrument of Obama reinforced after he sequential the raid. But the bump in his ratings could be short-lived as voters pore again on domestic concerns crucial to his 2012 re-election prospects.

Obama haw grappling more near to pace up the designed withdrawal this July of whatever U.S. forces from the unpopular war in Afghanistan.

The ending of containerful Laden could also assistance a semipolitical deciding by making it easier for the Afghan Taliban to cut their ties with al Qaeda.

"I do think that this opens the entranceway to near for a semipolitical settlement; that depends, however, on President Obama choosing to take the opportunity," said Joshua Foust at the dweller Security Project in Washington.

The prototypal Taliban response, however, has been to contest the truth of containerful Laden's death, locution pedagogue had not provided "acceptable grounds to backwards up their claim" that he had been killed.

No photos or recording of containerful Laden's embody or swift burial at sea hit been released.

Panetta said there was never whatever uncertainty that finally a picture would be prefabricated public, but other officials said no test decision had been taken, reflecting an intense interior debate in Washington.

"I'll be candid. There are sensitivities here in cost of the properness of emotional photographs of Osama containerful Laden," said Carney.

(Additional news by Reuters bureaux worldwide;; Writing by Alex Richardson; Editing by Dean Yates and Evangelist Chalmers)


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