Bin Laden killing prompts Arab anger, relief

Yahoo! News Canada 05/02/2011 17:45

Some Arabs mourned him as a holy warrior and martyr, while others saw him as a "pillar of evil" whose deadly attacks on the United States unleashed a backlash against Muslims across the world.

From his Saudi birthplace to the Gulf Arab shores and Palestinian territories, the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden highlighted the sharp divide between subjects and rulers, radicals and moderates across the Arab world.

The U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority welcomed bin Laden's killing as "good for the cause of peace." Its rival and prospective power-sharing partner, Islamist Hamas, deplored his death.

"We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior," said Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in Gaza, which faces a challenge from al Qaeda-inspired groups that consider it too moderate.

"We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."

Those who revered bin Laden were still in denial about his death but many in the Arab world felt it was long overdue.

Some said the killing of bin Laden in a raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan was scarcely relevant in an Arab world fired by popular revolt against oppressive leaders who had resisted violent Islamist efforts to weaken their grip on power.

"Bin Laden is just a bad memory," said Nadim Houry of Human Rights Watch in Beirut. "The region has moved way beyond that, with massive broad-based upheavals that are game-changers."