Washington, May 7 (IANS/EFE) President Barack Obama traveled Friday to a military base in Kentucky to congratulate the team of US Navy SEALs who took part in the raid that resulted in the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The meeting took place behind closed doors to protect the identities of the members of SEAL Team 6, who were collectively awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

In a subsequent public speech to troops at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Obama praised the SEALs for a "job well done" and also had warm words for the pilots who flew the helicopters used for Sunday's mission in Pakistan.

Greeted with loud applause by members of the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division, the president described the successful raid on Osama's compound as "one of the greatest intelligence military operations in our nation's history".

"We are going to ultimately defeat Al Qaeda," Obama told the troops, many of them just back from a deployment to Afghanistan. "We have cut off their head and we will ultimately defeat them."

The mastermind of the Sep 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, which left nearly 3,000 people dead, was killed Sunday when SEAL Team 6 stormed his compound in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

Hours before the president spoke at Fort Campbell, Al Qaeda confirmed Osama's death in a statement posted on the Internet.