According to the Associated Press, the United States has the body of Osama bin Laden, and he is dead. President Obama is expected to address the nation later this evening with more information.

UDPATE @ 10:38 PM: Via twitter from CBS reporter Mark Knoller:

CBS Congressional producer Jill Jackson reporting House Intelligence Committee aide says Obama will announce Osama bin Laden is dead.

Tweet from Sam Stein a few minutes ago:

white house is mum on topic. and rightfully so, only 15 min wait. but one official says its "Important enough that you shld pay attention"

Bin Ladin's Network
Bin Ladin's goal in his own words is to "unite all Muslims and establish a government which follows the rule of the caliphs," which he believes he can accomplish only by overthrowing nearly all Muslim governments, driving Western influence from those countries and eventually to abolishing state boundaries.

The bin Ladin network supports terrorists in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Somalia, Yemen, and now Kosovo. It also trains members of terrorist networks from such diverse countries as the Philippines, Algeria and Eritrea.

Additional Background
Bin Ladin, the youngest son of a wealthy Saudi businessman, developed a worldwide organization in the 1970s to recruit Muslim terrorists for the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. In 1988, he formed a network devoted to terror and subversion. He returned to his home in Saudi Arabia in 1989, but the Government of Saudi Arabia expelled him the following year for his continued support of terrorist groups.

Bin Ladin then went to Sudan from which he carried on his support for terrorist operations. At the urging of the United States, and following the attempted assassination of President Mubarak of Egypt, in which bin Ladin was involved and in which the Sudanese Government was complicit, the Government of Sudan expelled bin Ladin in 1996. However, he has maintained considerable business interests and facilities in Sudan.