"The liquidation of terrorists, even on the level of ... bin Laden, has a direct relationship to the level of security on the territory of our state," Itar-Tass quoted Medvedev as saying in his first public comments on the al Qaeda leader's killing in a US operation in Pakistan.

"It is no secret that the well known terrorist network al Qaeda has regularly sent and continues to send its emissaries to the territory of our state," Medvedev said during a meeting of his Security Council.

Russia is fighting an insurgency in its mainly Muslim North Caucasus region and has said that rebels with links to al Qaeda have been involved in attacks there and in the Russian heartland.

In a statement on May 2, the Kremlin called bin Laden's killing a "serious success" and said that "revenge is inescapable for all terrorists."