Al-Qaeda confirms Osama bin Laden's death, vows to retaliate

Al-Qaeda, the jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden, released a statement on Friday confirming the death of its leader, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Al-Qaeda Flag in Iran | Photo: Colonel Emerson Begolly, crwflags.com

According to AFP, the statement which was posted on militant Web sites contains the following:

"We also stress that the blood of the mujahid Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah have mercy upon him, weighs more to us and is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain.

"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.

"(We call upon them) to rise up strongly and in general to cleanse their country (Pakistan) from the filth of the Americans who spread corruption in it."

The statement also said a voice recording that Bin Laden made a week before his death would be released soon, Reuters reported.

Osama bin Laden was killed early morning on Monday in a raid by the US Navy SEALs in bin Laden's secret hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The confirmation of the al-Qaeda erases doubts after President Barrack Obama decided not to release the death photos of the terrorist leader. The release of the photos has been wanted by many to really prove bin Laden's death.

Check out below an excerpt of the CBS interview of President Obama:

STEVE KROFT: Did you see the pictures?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Yes.

KROFT: What was your reaction when you saw them?

OBAMA: It was him.

KROFT: Why haven't you released them?

OBAMA: You know, we discussed this internally. Keep in mind that we are absolutely certain this was him. We've done DNA sampling and testing. And so there is no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden. It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence. As a propaganda tool. You know, that's not who we are. You know, we don't trot out this stuff as trophies. You know, the fact of the matter is this was somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received. And I think-- Americans and people around the world are glad that he's gone. But we don't need to spike the football. And I think that given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk. And I've discussed this with Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton and my intelligence teams and they all agree.

KROFT: There are people in Pakistan, for example, who say, "Look, this is all a lie. Obama, this is another American trick. Osama's not dead."

OBAMA: You know, the truth is that and we -- we're monitoring worldwide reaction. There's no doubt that Bin Laden is dead. Certainly there's no doubt among al Qaeda members that he is dead. And so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this Earth again.

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