ON THE TERRORIST’S TRAIL US intelligence for the first time uncovers name of Osama’s assessments that lead them to believe trusted courier. that Osama may be located at the 2009 compound.They identify areas in Pakistan where the courier hasMarch 14, 2011 operated. Obama begins first of six meetings to Aug 2010rituapckyierhTcoonlgasOgnill.amdevaotetpltehepofrooisn courier’s residence in Abbottabad, 60km from Pakistan’s capitalApril 29Obama authorises Islamabad. operation before flying to Alabama. MUMBAI, TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2011Total: 28 pages>After Hours: 6 pages
May 1, 2011 2pmObama meets national security team to review preparations. 3.50pmPresident is told that Osama has been identified. 7.01pmUS president says “high probability” that Osama is killed. 11.35pmObama announces Osama’s death. PUBLISHED FROM MUMBAI, PUNE, BANGALORE, AHMEDABAD & JAIPUR
US Navy SEALS hunt down al-Qaeda chief hiding in Pak safehouse; shoot him in head; bury him at sea Washington:Osama bin Laden, the mas-TARGET INTELLIGENCE termind of the 9/11 attacks in the US and themosthufinrteefdigmhtanwiinhtheniwtoerdldS,tawtaessOsama bin Laden, Detainees atOPERATION killed in a t U Bay, Guantánamoal-Qaeda chief and forces in Pakistan on Sunday, US presi- gave the US the Cuba,chief architect of On March 14, dent Barack Obama announced. Obama held the pseudonym of one ofthe 9/11 terror Obama declared that tice has been most trusted Osama’s of five national firstattack on the Twin done”ashedisclosedtha“tjuAsmericanmil-Towers in the US. four years ago. It men security meetings tives had finall co the plansThe 54-year-old took the US two more regarding intearreydaLnaddCeInAothpeeraal-Qaedaleaderywhro- the operation. for to find out where yearsterrorist carried , man operated. US thata bounty of He gave the go-hAamdereilcuadnedoftfihceiamlsfosraindeLaarldyenardeesicastdeed.$25 milliontobAobarecdosfpidehsttraehaononApeoperatiiarbtlta US Black Hawk helicopters ferried u baunr“diFeowdraaostvsseheroat.twiondtehceadheesa,dL.aHdeenwhaasslbaeteernTEAMpsftroozenodoaNyvormuobawtteahrsteopicelkhihs’amasOoltdedtdeouesrearev.010tfAaglkActH2uwsa2i.n9Bix, a top military counter-terrorism aswla-oiQrdladie.nd“aaH’ssitslaedteaedamteehrnamttnaedrlkessvyitshmeebdomal,ro”ostuOsnibdgantmihfea-gdyinfstuksoweettabAbbointihiwgnlooldaF.,suin,titnothecompounditnedeifiybdehtIACsa Osama’s hideout from the Ghazia air base in satellite Osama’s Pakistan. They were equipped with tactical signals, icant achievement to date in our nation’sintelligence collectors, and navigators using highly imagery, they bodyguards opened edTfofhoeersrten’tsootndomefdaeorauktbattlh-theQaateenadlda-.QoBafeudotauhriwsieldlffecoaortnth-.artcepsrepyhdeiifsslacsawamasOtdnemiseretagderlimifi.refAetrubsrstoffireover40 thimonuumseettaaonnpdduabrwsreouaewdai.lt”ltarcekmsaaignaivnigsitluasn.tWatePLANNING22,set,elpoepinudclingOstiewdanthgrule-havHigre.ssaiceiplivlgantehminu and raids require d the one-acre co Camp Alpha, a segregated section of BaPLACEobrasdydugre,weamasa theLaUdSe-lne’dsfdiegahtthaigsaaindsetftienrirnogrimsom,maesnytimn-kiorlledildheeerwhaniniAfgoahset,sasbmuarswn.aiOslaur.erdTctaspnta obfoltihcesptruorkseuiatfofifrtmhionsegtwhheoraetlteanctkleesdsNneeswsthe head. One 2Y0o0r1k.aWnhdatWraesmhianigntsotnoobnesSeeepnt,ehmobwerev1e1r,,IDENTIFICATION BUResuacebdehsarcrteopicelhf is if it galvanises Laden’s followers byOsamahascolTheUSnAiNcaleoltmcedcehDasamples from Osama’s family at sea withmembers in the years since damage. M ttAuufrrgnnhiiannnggishtioamfniatnnhtdoegaipvmaegsaefrtuyirrnthoertrhsieemrvpweeastruassitano custothe 9/11 attack. The samplesKABBOTTABADCOMPOUNDOsama was living in a fortress-like three-storey house, Obama to bring Ameri troops home. which was built in 2005 on the outskirts of Abbottabad’swere used to identify the Monda can dirt Obam road. The house was eight times the size of otherterrorist. Officials said Osama was also identified through remainIslamabad The strike could exacerbate tensions handle nearby houses. Few windows faced the outside of the compound. The terrace hadfacial recognition, a reference tfwloiertdthsaPetaveAkinmstaeasrniLctaahdnaetnchoeauvsinpdteeernri-ttoledyrifrcooaulrlniysdbmsraiefsfe--to technology for mapping accordINDIAripotfo7-arbbawedwedhitereppotlawwslotouter12-18folhwlieavycwlallio1miuthn,boetdannoeelhpeThe.irtyeropprlavsaw$tadeuiorernttnervse.eci unique facial characteristics. Islami refuge on its territory for nearly a decade.Graphic: Sudhir, Ravi, Uday Since taking office, Obama has ordered significantly more drone strikes on sus-Top terrorist in Pakistan? pected terrorist targets in Pakistan, stir-ring public anger there and prompting the Pakistani government to protest. Relations with Pakistan had fallen in of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, publicly crit-We told you so, says India recent weeks to their lowest point in years. Adm Mike Mullen, the chairman icised the Pakistani military two weeks ago for failing to act against extremistsTeam DNANEW DELHIIndia also intends to use the Osama as-allied to al-Qaeda who shelter in the trib- sassination as leverage during all future al areas of North Waziristan. Osama bin Laden’s assassination “deep in- interactions with Pakistan — at the gov-Turn to p18 ernmental and Track-2 levels — to pres-side” Pakistan, in a town close to its capi-tal Islamabad, has vindicated India’s stand surise it to bring the perpetrators of the that Pakistan was a base for terrorists that 26/11 attack in Mumbai to book. it routed to India. It has provided New Del- Chidambaram said the perpetrators of IRREGULARManjulspuuosp-letmantrgrerroulcngnid1/62i,1shrnoaod-peplhronuataindyntlerstrolcohnitwhietaelb-soatbaemuontitdnsoicdso,sttreisrporerristuheIsfethsle-ported by it to foment trouble in India. teredin Pakistan. “We once again call On Monday, home minister P Chi- uponPakistan to arrest the persons whose dambaram reiterated India’s oft-repeat- names have been handed over to the inte-ed concern that Pakistan provides safe riorminister of Pakistan as well as pro-refuge to terrorist training camps. “We vide voice samples of certain persons who note with grave concern US president are suspected to be among the controllers Obama’s statement that the fire fight in and handlers of the terrorists,” he said. which Osama was killed took place at Government sources said that this Abbottabad, ‘deep inside Pakistan’. This could become a turning point in the war underlines our concern that terrorists against terrorism. “Pakistan has been belonging to different organisations find named and shamed. Its protestations are sanctuary in Pakistan,” Chidambaram hollow. But India should avoid the tri-said. umphalist note,” said the source. Pakistan has often claimed that Osama Minister of external affairs (MEA) SM was hiding in tribal areas bordering Krishna also picked on the fact that Afghanistan, and not within the country. Laden was found in Pakistan, and talked “Pakistan has always denied its role in of eliminating safe havens and sanctu-terror activities and today, it has been ex- aries “that have been provided to terror-I told u tohideyoKarachiwasthebestplaceAmericansgatheroutsidetheWhiteHouselateonSundaynighttocelebrateOsamabinLaden’sdeath—APtynreirdi-oaoatdlaniacrumsfeonsdeeenjsaoosiwMr”,hrohsoiuvhrpbBigrshra.sistinuoToud.r”nto p15 Will killing boost Obama’s 2012 election bid?INSIDE Osama spam floods cyberspace,p2 When will India get Dawood?p2 Laden’s death is a defining moment that allows Obama to claim the biggest national security victory in a decade‘Tough to prove his death’,p3 Jeff ZelenyWASHINGTONon the fight against terrorism. domestic concerns over high gas prices ployment holding centrestage. (A White5/1 does a 9/11 on al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden’s death is one of the most and the rising federal debt. Bin Laden’s House official said the president’s aidesOsama,p15 News of bin Laden’s assassination comes defining moments of Obama’s presidency. death gives Obama an unmistakable ad- are noting the lessons of 1992, when theas a significant victory for US President It allows him to claim the biggest national vantage on national security heading into president George Bush lost re-election aThe face that launched a thousand Obama whose foreign policy has been the security victory in a decade — something the 2012 presidential campaign. year after he won the Persian Gulf war.) subject of persistent criticism by his rivals. that eluded president George W Bush — Democrats and Republicans alike But Obama has unquestionably solidi-reort,sirtsp16 In his 2008 presidential campaign, and instantly burnishes his foreign policy hailed the moment on Sunday evening. fied his role as commander in chief. His Obama had declared, “We will kill bin credentials at a time when he has been Some of Obama’s rivals praised him, in- world view is often challenged by his Re-Militant’s death leaves al-Qaeda in Laden.” But as time passed, bin Laden’s questioned about his decisions on the Mid- cluding Republican Tim Pawlenty, a fre- publican rivals, who seek to portray him name had fallen out of presidential dle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan. quent critic of his policies. as a weak leader. That line of attack willdisarray,p17 speeches, raising concern from critics Thepresident has been facing some of Still, the 2012 election is likely to turn thatObamawasnotsufficientlyfocusedthelowestapprovalratingslargelyduetoinlargepartontheeconomy,withunem-nbiengmfoorreadisfeficcounldtttoerumse.a—sNYhTe begins run-Osama’s life in pictures,p18