Osama bin Laden, the face of global terrorism and draftsman of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight with elite American forces Monday, then speedily buried at sea in an eye-catching finale to a secretive decade on the run.
Long alleged to be hiding in caves, bin Laden was tracked down in a pricey, custom-built hideout not far from a Pakistani military greenhouse.
"Fairness has been done," President Barack Obama said in a theatrical statement at the White House while a crowd cheered outside and hundreds more congregated at ground zero in Manhattan to celebrate the news.
The military operation took mere minutes.
U.S. helicopters commuter boat elite counter-terrorism troops into the complex identified by the CIA as bin Laden's hideout — and back out over again in less than 40 minutes. Bin Laden was shot in the head, officials said, after he and his bodyguards resisted the attack.
