3 May 2011

Thousands celebrate killing of al Qaeda leader

3:13 pm on 3 May 2011

Thousands of jubilant people spent Sunday night in the United States celebrating the news of Osama bin Laden's death.

The leader of al Qaeda was earlier killed in a raid by US special forces on his compound in Pakistan.

Crowds gathered at the gates of the White House and at Ground Zero in New York - the scene of the attack by al-Qaeda on the World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001.

The BBC reports the national anthem was sung in Times Square.

9/11 memorial president Joe Daniels says the news brought people together.

Chants of "USA, USA, USA" surged from the crowd outside the White House.

The BBC reports a campaign poster was held aloft bearing the words ''Bush-Cheney'' - the men who took on the hunt for Bin Laden after 9/11.