Osama Bin Laden was blamed for the 9/11 attacks by the US Britons have been urged to be vigilant in the wake of the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, with embassies worldwide ordered to review security.
Bin Laden, believed to have masterminded the 9/11 attacks, was killed by US forces about 62 miles from Pakistan's capital.Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the death as "a great success" but said it was not the end of terror threats.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the network may try to reassert itself.
The Foreign Office urged Britons overseas to "exercise caution in all public places and avoid demonstrations, large crowds of people and public events".
Mr Cameron was phoned by US President Barack Obama before dawn on Monday UK time, a couple of hours before the president announced the news in a televised address.
"The news Osama Bin Laden is dead will bring great relief to people across the world," Mr Cameron said.
He later spoke from the prime minister's country residence, Chequers, saying: "It is a great success that he has been found and will no longer be able to pursue his campaign of global terror."
He went on: "This news will be welcomed right across our country. Of course, it does not mark the end of the threat we face from extremist terror - indeed we will have to be particularly vigilant in the weeks ahead. But it is, I believe, a massive step forward."
Mr Cameron plans to make a statement to the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon.
Following Bin Laden's death, the US put its embassies around the world on alert, warning Americans of the possibility of al-Qaeda reprisal attacks for Bin Laden's killing.
Mr Hague also stressed the likelihood of reprisals against UK targets.
"We must remember that this is not the end of being vigilant against al-Qaeda and associated groups, and, in fact, there may be parts of al-Qaeda that will try to show that they are still in business in the coming weeks, as indeed some of them are.
"So I have already this morning asked our embassies to review their security, to make sure that vigilance is heightened - and I think that will have to be our posture for some time to come.
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End Quote Nick Robinson BBC News political editorToday's news of the death of Osama Bin Laden could have a profound effect on the decisions taken about the future.”
"This is a very serious blow to al-Qaeda, but like any organisation that has suffered a serious blow, they will want to show in some way that they are still able to operate."
Home Secretary Teresa May said Bin Laden's death was "an important and significant development in the struggle against global terrorism" but there was still a "real and serious threat"."There is a continuing need for everyone to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to the police," she said.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism has remained at severe since January 2010, indicating a terrorist attack is highly likely.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which includes representatives from 16 government departments and agencies, sets the threat level.
Bin Laden was top of the US "most wanted" list, and President Obama said his death was "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al-Qaeda".
In the attacks in New York and Washington on 11 September, 2001, 67 Britons were among the 3,000 people killed when four planes were hijacked and flown into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
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Tony Blair: "If you, by acts of terror, kill innocent civilians, we will find you"
"We should never forget 9/11 was also the worst ever terrorist attack against UK civilians, and our thoughts are with all those - American, British and from nations across the world - who lost their lives and with their loved ones who remain and who live with their loss.
"The operation shows those who commit acts of terror against the innocent will be brought to justice, however long it takes."
Analysis
Pakistan's main Taliban faction has already threatened to attack the country's rulers and the US and the Foreign Office has urged Britons overseas to "exercise caution". The prime minister also made clear there is a need for particular vigilance in the weeks ahead.
Many groups affiliated to al-Qaeda - like the offshoot in Yemen which has been most active in recent months - will be barely affected by Bin Laden's death operationally.
The Home Office in London is making clear the threat level will remain where it is - at the second highest level, meaning an attack is highly likely.
However, al-Qaeda supporters have been trying to carry out a successful, major attack for many years and even if their desire may be increased by Bin Laden's death, their ability to actually do so will not have changed. Any violence is therefore more likely to be low-level.
But while the fear is of reprisals in the short term, the hope will be that the death will - in the longer term - help erode the appeal of al-Qaeda's ideology.
Labour leader Ed Miliband, while reiterating the call for vigilance, said: "The world is a safer place as a result of the death of Osama Bin Laden because he is no longer there to command or encourage terrorism."
Bin Laden evaded the forces of the US and its allies for almost a decade, despite a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head.He was killed in a firefight in a fortified residence in Abbottabad, 100km (62 miles) north-east of Islamabad.
Mr Hague acknowledged that there had been a "general assumption" that Bin Laden was hiding in the mountainous, tribal regions of Pakistan rather than the area around the capital, Islamabad.
But he added: "I don't think we're surprised by anything any more."
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg added his praise - and caution - about the operation: "This successful US operation is a major step forward and a serious blow to al-Qaeda but it does not mean that the struggle against terrorism is over."
Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said that since 9/11, there had been a continued international focus to bring Bin Laden to justice, "but frankly there were periods during those 10 years when it was far from certain where Bin Laden was or even that the trail had not gone cold".
"There will be plenty of time for questions to be asked and answers offered," he said, adding that immediate steps needed to be taken to keep everybody safe.
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