WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has said he hopes Osama bin Laden thought of all those who died in the September 11 attacks in the moments before he was killed by US Navy Seals.
The raid on bin Laden's compound took place on the night of May 1 five years ago, and the CIA marked the anniversary by "live tweeting" the events as they unfolded that night in Pakistan.
Mr Obama was also interviewed at length about the raid, discussing the high-stakes decision to set it in motion and the last moments of the al-Qaeda leader, who was then the world's most wanted terrorist.
"Hopefully, at that moment, he understood that the American people hadn't forgotten the some 3,000 people who he killed," Mr Obama told CNN.
In conjunction with the interview, the spy agency's tweets were seen as an effort to burnish Mr Obama's legacy by recalling one of the high points of his time in office.
The agency included the famous photograph of Mr Obama and his national security team, including Hillary Clinton, watching the raid unfold, referring to Mr Obama by the acronym for President of the United States.
"3:30 pm EDT," the post reads, "POTUS watches the situation on ground in Abbottabad live in the Situation Room."
That was followed nine minutes later by another post: "3:39 pm EDT - Usama Bin Ladin found on third floor and killed."
The final entry in the string of posts from the CIA's account came at 7:01 PM, noting that Mr Obama had received confirmation of a "high probability" that bin Laden had been killed.
The posts were shared widely on Twitter, but were met with a mixed reaction.
One user called the messages "grotesque and embarrassing", while numerous others urged the agency to stop. The reaction was far more positive five years ago, as Mr Obama's approval rating shot up by six points following bin Laden's death.
The raid has proved to be perhaps the most enduring foreign policy victory of his presidency, and has also become a key piece of Mrs Clinton's presidential platform.
As secretary of state at the time, Mrs Clinton was one of a handful of key advisers urging Mr Obama to order the raid. Others, including vice-president Joe Biden, reportedly urged restraint.
Mr Obama described the process that led him to give the Navy Seals the go ahead during his interview.
"We knew the risks involved, we had prepared as well as we could, and it was in that way emblematic of presidential decision-making," he said. "You're always working with probabilities, and you make your decisions not based on 100 per cent certainty but with the best information that you've got."