Al Qaeda confirms bin Laden death and vows revenge

Al Qaeda confirmed the death Osama bin Laden today in an Internet message that vowed revenge on the United States and its allies, including Pakistan, according to the SITE monitoring service.

Five days after President Barack Obama announced bin Laden's death in a US raid in Pakistan, al Qaeda vowed not to 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."

"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 SITE.

"Their happiness will turn into sorrow, and their blood will be mixed with their tears," al Qaeda said.

"We call upon our Muslim people in Pakistan, on whose land Sheikh Osama was killed, to rise up and revolt 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."