Washington:
It was a war that began in real earnest after about 3000 people were killed in the gruesome, concerted attacks on America on September 11, 2001. A long, intense search to track down Osama bin Laden, who had declared war on America.
Almost 10 years later, the US operation gained momentum in August 2010. A trusted courier of Osama bin Laden's was located in a mansion in Abbottabad, near Islamabad in Pakistan.
Months of preparation and planning followed, with US President Barack Obama actively involved in reviewing all facets. In February 2011, the CIA said it was confident the Abbottabad compound was bin Laden's likely hiding place. In March, 2011, Obama began chairing a series of meetings with his national security team.
Then, came the moment.
On April 29, 2011, Obama signed the "Kill Osama bin Laden order." He gave the final go ahead for the secret operation at 8.20 am that day. In the Diplomatic Room before he left for Alabama.
Several meetings were held at the White House on Sunday to review pros and cons.
At about 2 p.m. on Sunday, Obama met his top advisors to review and ratify the final orders.
At 3:32 pm he returned to the Situation Room for an additional briefing.
At 3.50 pm on Sunday the US President learned that Laden had been tentatively identified.
At 7:01 pm, he learned that there was a "high probability" that the target was Osama.
At 8:30 pm on Sunday, Obama got the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed.
In the initial days of the administration, the President had informally instructed the intelligence community to make the pursuit of Osama bin Laden as a top priority.
In June 2009, Obama had signed a memo to CIA Director Leon Panetta stating, "in order to ensure that we have expanded every effort, I direct you to provide me within 30 days a detailed operation plan for locating and bringing to Justice Osama bin Ladin." (With PTI inputs)