Al-Qaida issued a more direct statement confirming Osama bin Laden's death today, to solve a debate raging in jihadi forums about whether his death was true. Although this statement comes on the back of several other posts acknowledging his death, the method and presentation of this announcement makes it different.

CNN reports that the statement urged Pakistanis "to rise up and revolt," and states that bin Laden's death will be a "curse that chases the Americans and their agents, and goes after them inside and outside their countries." It also pledges that al-Qaida will "continue on the path of jihad, the path walked upon by our leaders … without hesitation or reluctance."

Although several jihadi forums and online al-Qaida ideologue Hussein bin Mahmud had already admitted bin Laden's death, no official statement had been issued about bin Laden's death from the central al-Qaida organization.

This most recent statement also is accompanied by the sharp graphics reserved for official statements, and is clearly being accepted as more authentic by Islamist forums. This clarification, which finally settles the issue, has the potential to embarrass websites which took the "bin Laden is alive" approach.