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Al-Qaida confirms bin Laden’s death

America’s ‘happiness will turn to sadness,’ it says, vows to release bin Laden audiotape

msnbc.com news services

CAIRO — Al-Qaida on Friday confirmed the killing of Osama bin Laden and warned of retaliation, saying America’s “happiness will turn to sadness.”

The confirmation came in an Internet statement posted on militant websites, signed by “the general leadership” of al-Qaida.

The announcement opens the way for the group to name a successor to bin Laden.

His deputy Ayman al-Zawahri is now the most prominent figure in the group and is a very likely contender to take his place. The U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, thought to be hiding in Yemen, has also been mentioned as a possible successor.

The statement, dated May 3, was the first by the terror network since bin Laden was killed Monday by U.S. commandos in a raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Video: Analyst: Bin Laden not easily replaceable (on this page)
The statement’s authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but it was posted on websites where the group traditionally puts out its messages.

The statement vowed that al-Qaida would not deviate from the path of armed struggle and said bin Laden’s blood “is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain.”

‘Curse that chases’ Americans
“It (bin Laden’s blood) will remain, with permission from Allah the Almighty, a curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries,” the militant network said in a statement released on Islamist Internet forums and translated by the SITE monitoring service.

“Soon, God willing, their happiness will turn to sadness,” it added, “their blood will be mingled with their tears.”

In the statement, al-Qaida also called on the people of Pakistan — “on whose land Sheikh Osama was killed” — to rise up in revolt against its leaders “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 writers of the statement appeared unaware of the announcement by American officials that bin Laden’s body had been buried at sea.

The statement warned against mishandling or mistreating bin Laden’s body and demanded that be handed over to his family, saying “any harm (to the body) will open more doors of evil, and there will be no one to blame but yourselves.”

The statement also said that an audio message bin Laden recorded a week before his death would be issued soon.

It stressed that the organization would not collapse, despite bin Laden’s death.

“It is impossible, impossible. Sheik Osama didn’t build an organization to die when he dies,” the statement read. “The university of faith, Quran and jihad from which bin Laden graduated will not close its doors,” it added. “The soldiers of Islam will continue in groups and united, plotting and planning without getting bored, tired, with determination, without giving up until striking a blow.”

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Tags: Columnists, Islam