We sent a message to the world, Obama tells NY firefighters

He visited the site of the collapsed Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre yesterday to pay tribute to victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Earlier he told New York firefighters that the US mission to kill bin Laden in Pakistan showed the world and the country that “when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say”.

The US President made his remarks as he visited a Manhattan fire station that lost 15 men on September 11, 2001.

The fire station contains a memorial for the dead firefighters that includes messages from their families.

Mr Obama said: “This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day. What happened on Sunday because of the courage of our military and the outstanding work of our intelligence sent a message around the world but also sent a message here back home.”

Mr Obama said he hoped the outcome brought the firefighters “some comfort”. In his brief remarks, the President never mentioned bin Laden’s name.

The Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday that the killing of an unarmed bin Laden by US special forces on Sunday had left him with a “very uncomfortable feeling”.

Dr Rowan Williams, the leader of the Anglican church, also criticised the way in which the Obama administration has appeared to change its account of the raid. He said: “I think the killing of an unarmed man is always going to leave a very uncomfortable feeling because it doesn’t look as if justice is seen to be done.

“I think it’s also true that the different versions of events that have emerged in recent days have not done a great deal to help.

“I don’t know the full details any more than anyone else does. But I do believe that in such circumstances, when we are faced with someone who was manifestly a war criminal in terms of the atrocities inflicted, it is important that justice is seen to be served.”

His comments came as a senior US defence official admitted that only one of the five people killed in the operation was armed and fired shots. Briefings earlier in the week by White House and Pentagon staff had portrayed the raid as involving prolonged and fierce firefights, with initial reports that bin Laden had fired a weapon.

The unnamed official said the story had become clearer once Navy Seal teams which carried out the raid has been debriefed.

Dr Williams was the latest religious leader to comment on the ethics of the killing of bin Laden.

On Monday Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said that Christians “do not rejoice” over a death.

Farooq Murad, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said the killing of bin Laden was “unfortunate” as it had denied the families of his victims the chance to see him brought to justice.

The US mission has continued to cause tension between America and Pakistan. Earlier this week Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, told the Senate Judiciary Committee the killing of bin Laden was “lawful” and “justified as an act of national self defence”.

However Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has warned the US of “disastrous consequences” if it carries out any more unilateral raids against suspected terrorists in its country.

He said: “The Pakistan security forces are neither incompetent nor negligent about their sacred duty to protect Pakistan,” He said the army had scrambled two F-16 fighter jets when it was aware that foreign helicopters were hovering over the city of Abbottabad, but they apparently did not reach the American forces in time.