Osama bin Laden is dead

American TV networks interrupted their broadcasts at 05:45 IST Monday, May 2, with the news that the head of Al Qaeda, the most wanted terrorist in the world and author of the 9/ll attack on America, is dead. The US is in possession of his body.  There are no further details about the circumstances of his death. President Obama is to make a statement from the White House shortly.

debkafile's counter-terror sources report that if this is confirmed, Bin Laden had not been on the run as generally reported but must have been living in under the protection of Pakistan military intelligence. It is not clear whether US intelligence tracked him down or was finally tipped off by the Pakistanis.
There were reports before dawn Monday after large-scale American military activity in the Abbottabad region and two US military helicopters crashing or being downed there.