US President Barack Obama today confirmed the death of the world's most wanted man - Osama bin Laden.
Mr Obama said that after the atrocity of September 11 in 2001, Americans were united in their resolve to go to war against al Qaeda.
US Department of State and FBI released this "age progressed" photograph of Osama Bin Laden last year.
He said he made the killing or capture of bin Laden his top priority on taking office.
Obama said last August he was briefed on a report about the location of bin Laden, hiding within a compound in Pakistan.
He said last week he authorised an operation to get bin Laden from his hiding place at Abbotabad, about 40km from Islamabad in Pakistan.
He said a small team carried out the operation today.
"After a firefight they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body" he said.
The Saudi-born leader of al-Qaeda had been hunted since a series of attacks on Western targets including the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington that levelled the twin towers of the World Trade Centre and hit the Pentagon.
Bin Laden was reportedly killed in a mansion with other family members outside Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, last week, CNN reported, quoting US administration officials.
It has been nearly 10 years since the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, which bin Laden was accused of masterminding.
Bin Laden, a Saudi national, is believed to have established terrorist group al-Qaeda, which means ''The Base'' in Arabic, in 1998.
He used his family's wealth - accumulated through Saudi Arabia's oil boom - to set up training camps in Afghanistan and to plan attacks against other countries.
He has been blamed for other terrorist attacks, including the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the 2000 bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen.
US congressional and administration sources said US officials had the body of bin Laden.
Following the attacks on the US, the US led a coalition of military forces to overthrow the Taliban - who refused to hand over bin Laden - in Afghanistan.
A manhunt for bin Laden by the US has continued for the past decade following a massive military assault in the mountains of Tora Bora in 2001.
Bin Laden is on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list and a reward of $US50 million was offered by the US Department of State for information leading to his capture.
The news brought a cheering, chanting crowd outside the White House fence before Mr Obama was set to appear on television.
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