The US commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden was "not an assassination", US Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday after the al Qaeda leader's sons denounced the operation. Holder told the BBC the raid on bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan on May 2 was a "kill or capture mission" and that his surrender would have been accepted if offered, but that the safety of US Navy commandos was paramount.
"What happened to bin Laden was not an assassination," Holder said. "I think the action that we took against him can be seen as an act of national self-defence. You have to remember it is lawful to target an enemy commander," he said. The top US legal official said there was no indication that bin Laden was going to surrender and it was believed he could be wearing a suicide vest.
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