Reactions to bin Laden's death vary across Mideast

BEIRUT — The demise of Osama bin Laden was praised by many nations victimized by the jihadist violence of al-Qaeda, though some said it would not by itself end the jihadist movement he helped create.

Douglas Sidialo, who lost his sight in al-Qaeda's 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, prays on Monday at the memorial in Nairobi to those who died in the attack.

By Khalil Senosi, AP

Douglas Sidialo, who lost his sight in al-Qaeda's 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, prays on Monday at the memorial in Nairobi to those who died in the attack.

"This is the fate that evil killers deserve," said outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, deploring the harm that bin Laden did to "the image of Islam and Arab causes."

Author and Al-Hayat journalist Hazem al-Amine, who specializes in radical Islamic groups in Lebanon, saw hope in the death. "Bin Laden's assassination comes as the crowning of a new peaceful movement that is taking the Middle East by storm," he said. The popular uprisings taking place in the Middle East "are showing Arabs that democratic revolutions are an efficient substitute to violence, one that can trigger greater change than traditional terrorist attacks."

Al-Qaeda has lost standing among Muslims as its use of terrorist tactics has resulted in significant Muslim casualties. A recent survey of Muslims around the world found little support for bin Laden, according to the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. The al-Qaeda leader received his highest level of support ? 34% ? in the Palestinian territories.

"They have lost the support of the Sunni community in Iraq. This has constituted a major drawback for the organization, which depends essentially on guerrilla warfare," and cooperation of local populations, al-Amine says.

Still, al-Qaeda's attacks have continued in many countries. Sheik Omar Bakri, a radical Lebanese, expects al-Qaeda to retaliate in the West in a manner that "will befit bin Laden's reputation.

"The assassination of Sheik Osama will further boost the organization's efforts to recruit followers."

In Afghanistan, where bin Laden was given refuge by the country's previous Taliban rulers, local officials erupted in applause when President Hamid Karzai told them the news.

Bin Laden's hands "were dipped in the blood of thousands and thousands of children, youths and elders of Afghanistan," Karzai said.

Others in the war-torn nation disagreed about bin Laden's legacy.

"He was like a hero in the Muslim world," said Sayed Jalal, a rickshaw driver in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. "His struggle was always against non-Muslims and infidels, and against superpowers."

Those who followed or sympathized with bin Laden expressed shock and dismay, or vowed revenge.

"My heart is broken," said Mohebullah, a Taliban fighter-turned-farmer in eastern Afghanistan. "In the past, we heard a lot of rumors about his death, but if he did die, it is a disaster and a black day."

Contributing: The Associated Press

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