World hails Osama’s demise as victory for justice

KABUL as a “victory for justice”.

US President Barack Obama, announcing the Saudi dissident’s death, said “justice has been done.” His predecessor George W. Bush welcomed the news as a “momentous” achievement.

The killing had vindicated Kabul’s oft-repeated stance that the Al Qaeda chief was not hiding in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai said.  “We have said time and again that Al Qaeda sanctuaries do not exist in Afghanistan.”

In Kabul, US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said Obama’s speech spoke for all Americans. “Afghans have suffered as much as any other nation from the campaign of terror that he and his extremist followers undertook.”

“His victims — Afghan, American and from many other nations– will never be forgotten. This victory will not mark the end of our effort against terrorism. America’s strong support for the people of Afghanistan will continue as before.”

The news has been met with relief and talk of a “safer world” by EU leaders in Brussels, despite the bloc’s official stance against targeted assassinations, the EU said in a statement.

EU Ambassador to Afghanistan Vygaudas Ušackas said the alleged terrorist mastermind had finally been hunted down. “It could be a game changer in boosting the morale and confidence of the US and international community that the efforts and sacrifices of almost the past 10 years of involvement in Afghanistan and in the region are not in vain.”

The news that Osama bin Laden was dead would bring great relief to people across the world,” said British Prime Minister David Cameron, the first among EU leaders to react to Obama’s announcement.

 A spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had communicated her “relief” to the US president.

“A world without Osama bin Laden is a better world. His hatred was a threat to us all,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted.

The head of the EU parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said: “We have woken up in a more secure world. Although the fight of the international community against terrorists is not over, an important step has been made in the fight against Al Qaeda.”

Ušackas warned: “The fight is not over. The root causes of international terrorism will need to be addressed and it will require resolve and staying power by the US, European Union and broader international community.”

Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram said: “We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which President Obama said that the firefight in which Osama bin Laden was killed took place in Abbottabad.”

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