Arab reaction to operation mixed

The killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in Pakistan made headlines across the Arab world.Posts on CNN Arabic's Facebook page suggest West has much to do to convince Arab world of its intentionsOne user hails bin Laden as "hero of this era", others condemn al Qaeda leader's actionsSome dispute whether bin Laden is really dead, call for proof

(CNN) -- The news of Osama bin Laden's killing may have been greeted by raucous celebrations and flag-waving in the U.S., but the reaction in other parts of the world has been very different.

Posts on CNN Arabic's Facebook page suggest the West has much left to do to convince many in the Arab world of its intentions.

The site's users hold a wide variety of opinions on bin Laden, from those who view him as a terrorist whose death should be welcomed, to those who see him as a martyr to be feted.

Sheikh Gamal Mohammed hails the al Qaeda leader as a Muslim figurehead, "the hero of this era", adding "he is indeed a martyr... he lived as a lion and died as a lion."

But Rubatabi Abdel Gadi, from Sudan, takes the opposite view, insisting that "a person like bin Laden has no relation or connection to Islam... by saying that he is a Muslim, his actions have caused more damage to Muslims than to non-Muslims."

Nada Ali offered her congratulations to those responsible for killing bin Laden: "Terrorists are a cancer that should be eliminated. Long live the heroes who took him out."

There has been no video or any kind of hard evidence to prove anything at all, and they threw his body into the sea: Sounds more to me like a Hollywood movie.
--CNN Arabic Facebook page user

As U.S. authorities debate whether to release images of bin Laden's body, the comments of some on the site suggest that even that may be insufficient to prove his death.

One poster, calling himself "Algeria Stand Up And Wake Up" and from Algeria, said: "I'm doubting the entire story for a lot of reasons, for example the picture circulating on the internet is a clear fake.

"There has been no video or any kind of hard evidence to prove anything at all, and finally they threw his body into the sea: Sounds more to me like a Hollywood movie."

While some of the more unusual views on the site include the suggestion that the world's most-wanted man never existed in the first place. Melhem Melhem, from Jordan, and Ahmed Shiha both claim there is no such person as bin Laden -- that he is nothing more than an American invention.

It's an opinion echoed in part by Hassan Gawad, from Iraq, who argues that the whole episode was one of U.S. propaganda.

"The United States manufactures all these tyrants for its own use and then whenever any of these made-in-USA terrorists turns his back to his maker they become international fugitives," he said.

"If it wasn't for bin Laden, America wouldn't have found a reason to invade Afghanistan and if it wasn't for someone like Saddam there wouldn't have been a reason to invade Iraq."

CNN Arabic's Facebook users are also debating whether bin Laden's death means the end of al Qaeda.

"I don't think so," wrote Khalid Hages. "A snake the size of bin Laden has more than one head and more than one tail.

"But we shouldn't forget the moral side of the game: The demoralization that his death will cause to his followers is disastrous."

CNN's Mariam Thabet contributed to this report.

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