Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden has been killed by U.S. forces, U.S. President Barack Obama announced in a televised address to the nation.
"Tonight I can report to the American people and the world that the United States has conducted an operation that has killed Osama bin Laden," Obama said.
"Last August, after years of work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead on bin Laden. And last week, I determined we had enough intelligence to take action. Today, at my direction, the U.S. launched a targeted operation on the Pakistan compound [where bin Laden was residing]," he said.
"No Americans were harmed. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body," Obama said.
A crowd has gathered outside of the White House. People are singing and shouting.
One of the world's most odious terrorists, bin Laden, who was on the FBI's most wanted list, had been behind the deadly September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Bin Laden managed to evade those who hunted him for almost a decade.
MOSCOW, May 2 (RIA Novosti)
