Muslim leaders from across Orange County said Monday that they welcome Osama bin Laden’s death and hope it will lead to better relations between American Muslims and non-Muslims in Orange County and across the country.

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“Bin Laden was never a Muslim leader. … The attacks on our people on Sept. 11 were the result of his twisted ideology,” said Ameena Mirza Qazi, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Greater Los Angeles.

Muzammil Siddiqi, religious director of Islamic Society of Orange County said: “Islam is totally against terrorism, totally against violence,” and bin Laden’s death has “brought a sense of relief for all of us.

“We hope this chapter that began 10 years ago will close and a new chapter will begin,” he added. “We want to live together in peace and harmony.”

Siddiqi and Qazi were joined at the council’s headquarters in Anaheim by Imam Yassir Fazaga, of the Orange County Islam Foundation, and Imam Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini, founder of the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County in Costa Mesa.

Al-Qazwini said leaders of the Muslim community – mostly because of bin Laden – have spent the past 10 years trying to prove what the Islamic religion is not, rather than what it is.

“We haven’t stopped since 9/11, talking at churches, colleges and sharing,” he said. “That won’t stop now; I see it as an endless task in developing better relationships.”

Al-Qazwini said he supports U.S. troops continuing to operate in Afghanistan.

“Bin Laden’s ideology did a lot of damage,” he said. “The job there is not done.”

CELEBRATIONS

Just minutes after President Barack Obama announced Sunday night that a secret operation that killed the al-Qaeda leader in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, residents in Orange County and around the country reacted to the news.

Residents ran outside with American flags, celebratory gunshots were heard throughout the county and local Marines began texting each other with the news Sunday night that Osama bin Laden is dead.

“They got Osama,” was the message that Cpl. Andrew Calvillo received while running errands.

Calvillo, who returned from deployment in Afghanistan about a week ago, rushed home to watch the president announce that bin Laden was killed by U.S. elite forces. His wife had been recording it.

“I know a lot of hard work and a lot of people have been hurt because of that man,” said Calvillo, of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton. “I think it’s a very good end to a horrific story.”

However, in Westminster, a seemingly pro-bin Laden 50-foot long graffiti was painted along the I-405 freeway that said: “Osama Forever.” An upside down American flag was drawn with black spray paint in the middle of the message. Caltrans crews were called out quickly to remove it.

News and links of the news quickly flooded Twitter and Facebook.

Several Marines from Camp Pendleton began texting the news to friends and family. They called the death of bin Laden, a man who seemingly defined U.S. foreign policy for nearly a decade, a morale boost that has given them a sense of accomplishment. Although relieved, some expressed regret they couldn’t have participated.

“That’s big news. It’s history. I can say that I was in the Marine Corps when this happened. It makes me proud,” said Sgt. Jacob Chadwick of the 4th Tank Battalion of Marines Corps Air Station Miramar. “I wish I was the one who did it.”

Shortly after the president’s announcement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement welcoming bin Laden’s death: “We join our fellow citizens in welcoming the announcement that Osama bin Laden has been eliminated as a threat to our nation and the world through the actions of American military personnel.”

Still others regretted that bin Laden was not brought in alive to face trial in the U.S. court system.

SOME WANTED JUSTICE

“I’m against all kinds of killing, it doesn’t matter where,” said Tawfieq Mousa, an engineer and Palestinian community activist. “I want him to be caught and brought to justice. I don’t believe in killing and assassination.”

Hasnaa Nour, president of Orange County group Egyptians United, agreed: “In a way, I feel it’s fair. He killed a lot of people, but I don’t like it. I feel he should get a fair trial, not sending people to kill him. It’s not the right way.”

But for Marines, many of who joined the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the death of bin Laden was a priority after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

“You’ve got to understand, (bin Laden is) pretty much the reason why my generation joined the military,” Chadwick said. “Everybody knew that our priority was that he be captured or killed.”

Lance Cpl. Mike Lenzmeier of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, who also returned about a week ago, said the first thing that came to his mind when he heard the news was “Hell yeah!”

“I’m proud that he’s dead,” Lenzmeier said.

THE FACE OF EVIL

Col. Willard Buhl, who relinquished his post as commanding officer of the 5th Marine Regiment in March and has been assigned to work as a military fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, described bin Laden’s death as a long time coming.

Buhl said bin Laden had been part of military conversations since before 9/11, but the attack on the World Trade Center brought him to the forefront.

“This guy is the face of evil that we’re fighting around the world,” Buhl said. “The countless people he has killed, the deaths he has been responsible for … just like the president said, justice is served.”

Soon after the word spread that bin Laden had been killed, people with American flags started gathering in the plaza in the center of Old Towne Orange. They waived flags and motorists honked approval. More people were walking down to the plaza from the direction of nearby Chapman University and a pair carrying an American flag jogged from west of the plaza. People stopped outside of Starbucks and Felix Continental Cafe to watch and shout their approval.

Orange County residents celebrated news of bin Laden’s death in a different way Sunday night, some by firing their own weapons.

The Sheriff’s Department received several calls of shots fired around Orange County, about the same that Obama announced that bin Laden has been killed.

People went outside, fired a couple shots, then went back inside their homes, said Lt. Lloyd Downing. Firing shots into the sky can be dangerous, he said.

One gunshot was reported in Yorba Linda, the unincorporated area of Santa Ana, and Lake Forest; two shots were reported in San Clemente, Downing said.

“We understand people being happy, but they need to realize if you project that in the air, it’s going to come down somewhere,” he said. “There are other forms of celebration.”

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Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361