The man who killed bin Laden

An anonymous hero risks becoming an outcast after telling his story

For all of his professional life, Robert O'Neill lived in the shadows.

Indeed, his job was not to be seen. He would stalk Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and hunt down targets in Iraq. On more than 400 different missions, his role was behind-the-scenes tracking and co-ordination of operations.

His exploits were turned into three Hollywood films - yet still his identity remained a secret.

But he has now thrust himself firmly into the spotlight, with his decision to come out and say he was the man who pulled the trigger and shot dead Osama bin Laden.

Breaking the Navy SEALs' code of secrecy, O'Neill has given an interview to Fox News in which he describes the events of May 2011. He has also given an interview with the Washington Post in which he says he fired the fatal shot that hit the al-Qaeda leader in the forehead at his hideout in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in May 2011.

The newspaper said two SEAL team members had corroborated his identity.

He had spoken previously, giving an interview to Esquire magazine, but in that report he was referred to only as "The Shooter".

He told the Post he decided to go public because he feared his identity was going to be leaked by others. Indeed, his name was published on Monday by SOFREP, a website operated by former special operations troopers.

And his decision to speak out has already angered military commanders, who have written a letter to all SEALs reminding them of their pledge to shun publicity.

"A critical tenet of our ethos is 'I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions'," wrote Rear-Admiral Brian Losey, head of NSWC, and Michael Magaraci, the force master chief.

O'Neill has left the SEALs and become a motivational speaker - but in military eyes, that does not release him from his vows.

"Our ethos is a lifelong commitment and obligation, both in and out of the service. Violators of our ethos are neither teammates in good standing, nor teammates who represent Naval Special Warfare," his former bosses wrote.

O'Neill was aware of the condemnation he would face - a colleague, Matthew Bissonnette, wrote a book, No Easy Day, about the raid under a pseudonym, but his real identity leaked out and he has since found himself a social pariah.

O'Neill told the Post he fired the two shots that killed bin Laden.

This contradicts the account of Bissonnette.

O'Neill claims a commando who remains unnamed, at the point position of the formation, fired at bin Laden but missed.

O'Neill says he then went into the room and killed the al-Qaeda leader with shots to the head.

In No Easy Day, Bissonnette claims it was the point man who killed bin Laden.

In an interview with NBC News, however, Bissonnette did not directly dispute O'Neill's claim.

Despite the likelihood his actions would upset his former bosses and colleagues, O'Neill went ahead anyway. Having left the force after 16 years, instead of the standard 20, he was angered at his reduced pension and healthcare benefits. But the Post said O'Neill had still long agonised over whether to go public, especially over concerns that others would leak his identity, which was already known in military circles, by members of Congress and at least two news organisations.

He finally decided to come forward after meeting with relatives of victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.

O'Neill told the Post he decided on the spot to speak about how bin Laden died.

"The families told me it helped bring them some closure."

O'Neill's career began when he walked into a recruitment centre in his hometown of Butte, Montana - he has said he signed up because he was left distraught by a girlfriend dumping him, while his father said it was because he had met a former SEAL who inspired him.

His father, Tom, still lives in the town - in a single-storey house where the garage is filled with stuffed moose, elk and bears from their childhood shooting trips. "My ex-wife gave birth to a man. We shouldn't be cowering in fear," said Tom O'Neill, when asked by the Mail Online if he was concerned about his son's decision to speak publicly. "I support him in everything he is doing."

Indeed, Tom O'Neill has every right to be immensely proud of his son.

O'Neill advanced through the ranks to become one of the most senior of Navy SEALs.

In Afghanistan, in 2005, he oversaw an operation to track down and hunt a senior Taliban commander. That mission, entitled Operation Red Wings, was intended to capture Ahmad Shah, but went terribly wrong.

Three of the four SEALs were killed and a helicopter sent in for their aid was shot down with a rocket-propelled grenade, killing all eight SEALs and all eight special forces soldiers on board. O'Neill was part of the team that helped bring the surviving soldier, Marcus Luttrell, back - in an operation turned into the film Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg.

In April 2009, when the captain of the Maersk Alabama ship was taken hostage by Somali pirates, O'Neill led the SEAL team to rescue him. That rescue was made into the film Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks.

And, of course, then came the May 2011 raid on the Abbottabad compound - which became the film Zero Dark Thirty.

On leaving the force, O'Neill became a motivational speaker - describing himself as "one of the quiet professionals performing the most difficult tasks in the most difficult circumstances, serving his remarkable career in the shadows and keeping America safe in the process". He is no longer the man in the shadows.

How SEAL took down the world's most wanted man

After United States Navy SEALs made their way into Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011, Robert O'Neill was in the No2 position for the attack on the al-Qaeda leader's bedroom.

O'Neill told the Washington Post newspaper that bin Laden (pictured) briefly appeared at the door but the SEAL in front of him apparently missed his shot.
"I rolled past him into the room, just inside the doorway," O'Neill said."There was bin Laden, standing there. He had his hands on a woman's shoulders, pushing her ahead."

O'Neill said he could clearly identify bin Laden through his night-vision scope, despite the darkness of the room - and he fired. O'Neill said it was clear bin Laden was dead as his skull was split.

-Telegraph Group Ltd, AFP