Obama makes it official, Al-Qaida leader Osama is dead See photo WASHINGTON: Osama bin Laden , the glowering mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was killed in an operation led by the United States, President Barack Obama said on Sunday. "Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaida, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children," Obama said in a surprise late night White House address. The world's most wanted man had been killed in a Pakistani compound in an operation on Sunday, which had been carried after cooperation from Islamabad , the US leader said. Obama said in the historic address from the White House that he had directed the US armed forces to launch an attack against a compound in Pakistan on Sunday acting on a lead t