Al-Qaeda Confirmed Osama bin Laden's Death With A Threat

On May 6, 2011, Al-Qaeda officially confirmed the death of its leader, Osama bin Laden, and vowed to continue launching assaults against the Western world.

Al-Qaeda affirmed its commitment to armed conflict, emphasizing the sanctity of bin Laden’s blood to Muslims, and vowed that it would serve as a curse haunting Americans and their allies, both domestically and internationally.

The statement, disseminated on sympathetic forums, was translated by the SITE monitoring service, however, the country where the message originated from remained undisclosed.

Al-Qaeda’s message implored the people of Pakistan, the nation where bin Laden was discovered, to rise against what it perceived as disgrace inflicted upon them by Americans and to expunge their land from American influence.

Furthermore, the group announced its forthcoming release of an audio recording of bin Laden, recorded just before his demise at the hands of US commandos.

Al-Qaeda's confirmation of bin Laden's death is significant given the doubts surrounding his demise. That doubt persisted among some Muslims as the United States refused to disclose what it termed as graphic images of his body, citing concerns that it might worsen violence.

A survey conducted by the British-based YouGov polling organization in Pakistan revealed that 66 percent of over 1,000 participants doubted the identity of the person killed by U.S. Navy SEALs as bin Laden.

Mandela's Victory Confirmed

Similarly, on this day in 1994, South Africa's first nonracial democratic election, won by Nelson Mandela, received an official endorsement from the electoral officials, who deemed it "largely free and fair." Following this declaration, the nation's political parties accepted the outcome. Then, the victorious African National Congress (ANC) prepared and assumed leadership in a freshly formed interim government.

The final vote count revealed that the ANC clinched 62.6 percent of the ballots, securing victories in seven of the nine newly established provinces. Trailing behind ANC, the then-incumbent National Party garnered 20.4 percent of the vote, while the Inkatha Freedom Party secured third place with 10.5 percent.

The results gave the ANC 252 out of 400 seats in the incoming National Assembly. Mandela later assumed office formally as the President of South Africa.