Video Related To: Obama raises the banner of victory

s1.zetaboards.com - May 1, 2011: US President Barack Obama on Sunday night announced the United States has killed Osama bin Laden, almost a decade after al-Qaida organized the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington. "The United States has conducted an operation that has killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida," Obama said in a statement from the White House just after 11:30 pm ET. "Tonight we can say to those families that have lost loved ones to al-Qaida's terror, justice has been done." The stunning news of bin Laden's death comes almost a decade after the al-Qaida leader masterminded the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, killing nearly 3000. Obama said bin Laden had been killed Sunday by "a small team of Americans" who had tracked the al-Qaida leader to a compound inside Pakistan. Bin Laden's death came after a firefight, he added. "No Americans were harmed," Obama said, adding that the US forces "took custody" of bin Laden's body. The US president gave a few tantalizing details of a long operation to locate and kill bin Laden. Obama said he had been "briefed on a possible lead" last August and determined last week "we had enough intelligence to take action." He told viewers that, upon taking office in early 2009, he had directed the US military and intelligence communities "to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority" in the US war against al-Qaida. Word of bin Laden's death brought cheers of "USA, USA, USA" from a small <b>...</b>