Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday convened emergency talks with his prime minister and security chiefs in Islamabad following the U.S. confirmation of Osama bin Laden’s death.

Pakistan's foreign ministry says the death of Osama bin Laden shows the resolve of his country and the world to battle terrorism. Pakistan's first official statement about the operation to kill bin Laden said Monday's raid was a U.S. operation.

India, whose ties with Pakistan are strained, was one of the more ambivalent countries to the news. A statement from India's foreign ministry praised the killing of bin Laden as a "victorious milestone", adding, "The struggle must continue unabated." A home ministry statement pointed out that bin Laden had been found in a mansion 60 kilometers from Islamabad. This, it said, underlined India's concern that "terrorists belonging to different organizations find sanctuary in Pakistan."

Taliban's "lesson"

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Osama bin Laden had "paid for his actions." Karzai also called on the Taliban to refrain from fighting. "The Taliban must learn a lesson from this," Karzai told a news conference. Karzai also pointed out that he believes that Afghanistan is not the true hub of the war on terror. "The war against terrorism is in its sources, in its financial sources, its sanctuaries, in its training bases, not in Afghanistan."

Japan, a key US ally, on Monday welcomed the death of Osama bin Laden and said it would step up security at its Self-Defense Forces’ military bases in case of possible reprisal attacks. Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said Tokyo hailed the killing of bin Laden by US forces in Pakistan as "significant progress of counter-terrorism measures," his ministry said in an emailed statement.

While world leaders are proclaiming that the world has become safer, many countries were preparing their citizens for the worst.

Indonesia on high alert

In countries with significant Muslim populations, international schools, embassies and other potential targets were putting extra security measures in place in case of reprisals.

In Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, security forces are on high alert. The police fears reprisals from Indonesian terror organisations with ties to Al Qaeda. Said Agil Siradj, chairman of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama says, bin Laden's death will help “restore Islam's image as one of people, not violence.” But he believes terrorism will continue as long as there is injustice against Muslims.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Monday ordered security to be stepped up around the country while hailing Osama bin Laden's death as a triumph over terrorism.

"The death of Osama bin Laden marks a signal defeat for the forces of extremism and terrorism," Aquino said in a statement. "It represents the death of the efforts of one man to stoke the fires of sectarian hatred and to promote terrorism on a scale unprecedented in the history of mass murder."

Author: Ziphora Robina (Reuters, AP, AFP)
Editor: Sarah Berning