US happiness will turn to sadness, vows Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda on Friday confirmed the death of its chief Osama bin Laden, five days after the dreaded terrorist was killed by American commandos in Pakistan's Abbottabad town, warning that his blood would not be "wasted" and attacks against the US and it allies would continue.

The confirmation came in a statement posted by the terror network on jihadist websites, according to the US monitoring group SITE.

In the statement, Al Qaeda warned that bin Laden's blood would not be "wasted" and attacks on the US and its allies would continue.

Fifty-four-year-old bin Laden was killed in a unilateral operation by special US forces in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad near Islamabad early Monday.

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"We in Al Qaeda organisation pledge to Allah the almighty and ask his help, support and steadfastness to continue on the path of jihad, the path walked upon by our leaders, and on top of them, Sheikh Osama," SITE said, quoting the statement.

The terror group described itself as a "curse" on America, vowed bloodshed and asked Pakistan to rise up in revolt.

"Soon, God willing, their (the US') happiness will turn to sadness. Their blood will be mingled with their tears," the statement said.

"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 ... and in general to cleanse their country from the filth of the Americans who spread corruption in it," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Pakistani military officials have claimed that Osama had been sidelined by his deputy Aiman al-Zawahiri in the terror outfit, which was also divided over financial matters.

The unnamed military officials made the claim during a background briefing for Pakistani reporters on Thursday, BBC Urdu said.

The officials did not give details of the purported split between the two top Al Qaeda leaders. The military officials also briefed the media on revelations made by bin Laden's family, including his three wives and 13 children who are in the custody of Pakistani authorities.

Bin Laden's Yemeni wife, identified in some media reports as Amal Ahmed Abdul Fattah, has told investigators that she had not gone out of her room for five years and that her husband too stayed in the compound during the same period.

The Yemeni wife, who was hit by a bullet in her leg, said bin Laden was alive till she lost consciousness.

A daughter of bin Laden confirmed that her father was shot dead in front of her.

The military officials told the media that the US should have informed Pakistan about the raid on bin Laden's compound and there should have been bilateral cooperation.

"The US should have done what we had done when (Afghan Taliban leader) Mullah Baradar was arrested," one official was quoted as saying.

Mullah Baradar, the number two in the Afghan Taliban hierarchy, was arrested near Karachi in a joint Pakistan-US operation in February last year.