5 May 2011 Last updated at 12:02 GMT Archbishop 'uncomfortable' over Bin Laden unarmed death
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Williams said it was important that 'justice is seen to be served'. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said the killing of the unarmed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden leaves "a very uncomfortable feeling". US forces killed Bin Laden in a raid on his north Pakistani hideout, and initially said he was armed when shot. However, American officials later acknowledged that he was unarmed. Dr Williams said the "different versions of events" that have emerged have done little to ensure that justice was seen to be done. The US said Bin Laden was a lawful military target and he 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." 'Kill or capture' Critics have raised concerns about the legality of the operation, after the US revised its account to acknowledge Bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead. But US Attorney General Eric Holder said Bin Laden was a lawful military target, whose killing was "an act of national self-defence". "It was a kill-or-capture mission. He made no attempt to surrender." The US has offered two different successive accounts of the killing of Bin Laden. Originally, officials said the al-Qaeda chief had "participated" in a firefight when he was shot dead. On Tuesday, the White House corrected this, saying Bin Laden was unarmed. But it still insisted that he was resisting capture - although it is unclear exactly how he did this. A White House spokesman suggested the initial confusion was the result of trying to provide a great deal of information in haste. ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
