Friday, May 6, 2011

Archbishop 'uncomfortable' over OBL's Unarmed Killing





(BBC) Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says the US killing of unarmed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has left "a very uncomfortable feeling".


Bin Laden died in a raid on a Pakistani hideout, and the US initially said he was armed but later corrected that.


Dr Williams said that when "faced with someone who was manifestly a war criminal... it is important that justice is seen to be served". But "different versions of events" had done little to ensure that, he added.


The US said Bin Laden was a lawful military target and he had made no attempt to surrender. Dr Williams, asked about the death during a press briefing on Thursday, 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.


"In those circumstances 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."


A spokesman for Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said the Church would not be commenting on Bin Laden's death.

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