UK vigilance urged after Osama Bin Laden death
Britons have been urged to be vigilant in the wake of the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, with embassies worldwide ordered to review their security.
Bin Laden, blamed by the US for the 9/11 attacks, was killed by US forces about 62 miles from Pakistan's capital.
Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the death as "a great success" but said it was not the end of terror threats.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the network may try to reassert itself.
The Foreign Office urged Britons overseas to "exercise caution in all public places and avoid demonstrations, large crowds of people and public events".
Mr Cameron said early on Monday, just hours after US President Barak Obama informed him of the death: "The news Osama Bin Laden is dead will bring great relief to people across the world."
He later spoke from the prime minister's country residence, Chequers, saying: "It is a great success that he has been found and will no longer be able to pursue his campaign of global terror."
He went on: "This news will be welcomed right across our country. Of course, it does not mark the end of the threat we face from extremist terror - indeed we will have to be particularly vigilant in the weeks ahead. But it is, I believe, a massive step forward."
Following Bin Laden's death, the US put its embassies around the world on alert, warning Americans of the possibility of al-Qaeda reprisal attacks for Bin Laden's killing.
Mr Hague also stressed the likelihood of reprisals against UK targets.
"We must remember that this is not the end of being vigilant against al-Qaeda and associated groups, and, in fact, there may be parts of al-Qaeda that will try to show that they are still in business in the coming weeks, as indeed some of them are.
"So I have already this morning asked our embassies to review their security, to make sure that vigilance is heightened - and I think that will have to be our posture for some time to come.
"This is a very serious blow to al-Qaeda, but like any organisation that has suffered a serious blow, they will want to show in some way that they are still able to operate."
The Home Office has maintained the threat level to the UK from international terrorism since January 2010 at severe, indicating a terrorist attack is highly likely.
A spokeswoman said it was under constant review, but was unlikely to change on Monday.
Bin Laden was top of the US "most wanted" list, and President Obama said his death was "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al-Qaeda".
In the attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September, 2001, 67 Britons were among the 3,000 people killed when four planes were hijacked and flown into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
Tony Blair, UK prime minister at the time of the attacks, expressed his "heartfelt gratitude to President Obama and to all of those who so brilliantly undertook and executed this operation".
"We should never forget 9/11 was also the worst ever terrorist attack against UK civilians, and our thoughts are with all those - American, British and from nations across the world - who lost their lives and with their loved ones who remain and who live with their loss.
"The operation shows those who commit acts of terror against the innocent will be brought to justice, however long it takes."
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "For the victims of 9/11 and their families, nothing can take away the pain of what happened but this will provide an important sense of justice."
Bin Laden evaded the forces of the US and its allies for almost a decade, despite a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head.
He was killed in a firefight in a fortified residence in Abbottabad, 100km (62 miles) north-east of Islamabad.
The property had 4m-6m (12ft-18ft) walls, was eight times larger than other homes in the area and was valued at "several million dollars", though it had no telephone or internet connection.
Mr Hague acknowledged that there had been a "general assumption" that Bin Laden was hiding in the mountainous, tribal regions of Pakistan rather than the area around the capital, Islamabad.
But he added: "I don't think we're surprised by anything any more."
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg added his praise - and caution - about the operation: "This successful US operation is a major step forward and a serious blow to al-Qaeda but it does not mean that the struggle against terrorism is over."
Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said that since 9/11, there had been a continued international focus to bring Bin Laden to justice, "but frankly there were periods during those 10 years when it was far from certain where Bin Laden was or even that the trail had not gone cold".
"There will be plenty of time for questions to be asked and answers offered," he said, adding that immediate steps needed to be taken to keep everybody safe.
He also said there needed to continued efforts to ensure that people in Pakistan and across the region understand that their best interests are served by following the rule of law.
BBC News
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