UNITED States President Barack Obama says the world is better and safer because of the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Speaking at the White House, President Obama said bin Laden’s death showed that the United States has kept its commitment to seeing that justice is done.

Mr Obama also praised the people gathered spontaneously at the White House and in New York to celebrate bin Laden’s death, saying that embodied the true spirit and patriotism of America.

A team of elite American forces killed bin Laden during a raid at the compound in Pakistan where the elusive terror mastermind had been hiding.

Bin Laden, the face of global terrorism and architect of the September 11 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight. Obama administration officials said DNA evidence confirmed the death.

Bin Laden was then quickly buried at sea, an official said, in a stunning finale to a furtive decade on the run.

Long believed to be hiding in caves, bin Laden was tracked down in a costly, custom-built hideout not far from a Pakistani military academy. The news of his death prompted relief and euphoria outside the White House and around the globe, yet also deepened fears of terrorist reprisals against the United States and its allies.

“Justice has been done,” President Obama said in an announcement that seemed sure to lift his own political standing.

The officials said the DNA testing alone offered a “99.9%” certainty that bin Laden was shot dead in a daring US military operation. Detailed photo analysis by the CIA, confirmation by other people at the raid site and matching physical features like bin Laden’s height all helped confirm the identification.

A Pentagon official said a wife of bin Laden identified him by name during the US raid. One official said there should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that the person killed was bin Laden.

Still, it was unclear if the world would ever get visual proof. The body was quickly buried at sea, and administration officials were weighing the merit and appropriateness of releasing a photo of bin Laden, who was shot in the head.