WASHINGTON — The woman killed in the US raid on a compound in Pakistan that was housing terror lord Osama bin Laden died as she shielded him, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan revealed this afternoon.
The woman was thought to have been one of bin Laden’s wives, officials said.
Brennan said it was not clear whether she was protecting bin Laden of her own free will or whether he deliberately used her as a human shield.
AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE RAID THAT KILLED BIN LADEN
VIDEO: AL QAEDA LEADER OSAMA BIN LADEN KILLED
VIDEO: INSIDE BIN LADEN’S COMPOUND
President Obama made “one of the most gutsiest calls of any president in recent memory,” Brennan said of the president’s decision to authorize the raid that killed the al Qaeda leader.
Brennan said the White House has made no decision on whether to release photographic proof that bin Laden is dead.
He also said that the White House thought bin Laden would resist if attacked and that there was a “remote” possibility he could be captured alive.
CIA ANALYZING INFORMATION SEIZED FROM OSAMA’S MANSION
GIULIANI CALLS BIN LADEN’S DEATH ‘SIGNIFICANT VICTORY’
‘YOU CANNOT DEFEAT US,’ CLINTON WARNS TERRORISTS
Brennan told reporters gathered at the White House that the contingency plan was prepared for in the event bin Laden had surrendered.
Brennan said that it only would have happened if bin Laden didn’t pose any threat to the Americans sent to take him out.
Since he fought back, he was killed, Brennan said.
GIANTS COACH COUGHLIN REACTS TO NEWS OF BIN LADEN DEATH
OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD IN US RAID
PHOTOS: CELEBRATIONS AT GROUND ZERO
VIDEO: NEW YORKERS REJOICE AT NEWS OF BIN LADEN’S DEATH
Brennan said the White House was confident that their target was bin Laden once he was killed based on physical evidence and other factors.
DNA evidence later sealed the identification.
“Now we can say with 99.99 percent confidence this was bin Laden,” Brennan said.
Obama and his close aides watched the operation on Sunday in real time on video screens within the White House Situation Room.
“Minutes passed like days,” Brennan said. “It was clearly very intense.”
Asked how Obama reacted when he received the news that bin Laden had been killed, Brennan recalled that the president said, “We got him.”
Brennan stopped short of saying whether the US believed the terrorist leader had received support on an “official basis” and praised Pakistan for its counterterrorism efforts.
Still, he said the characteristics of the compound “raise questions” about why it had not raised suspicions.
Authorities told The Wall Street Journal that they believe the compound in Abbottabad, located 35 miles northeast of Islamabad, was constructed in 2005 to house bin Laden, but it is unclear when he moved in.
The compound is about eight times larger than other homes in the area and had security measures, including 12-foot-high barbed wire fences and restricted access.
The property was valued at about $1 million, but it had no phone or Internet access.
With Newscore and AP