MOSCOW - Russia on Monday praised the killing of al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by US special forces in Pakistan as a "serious success" and vowed there would be no escape for global terrorists.

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"Revenge is inescapable for all terrorists," the Kremlin press service said in the first official comment on the death of bin Laden, architect of the airliner attacks on New York's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

"Only a joint struggle against global terrorism can bring a result," it added in a statement. "Russia is ready to increase its cooperation."

Moscow is fighting an insurgency in the North Caucasus, and says that rebels with links to al Qaida have been involved in attacks both there and in the Russian heartland.

"Russia was one of the first countries to encounter the dangers posed by global terrorism, and unfortunately knows from direct experience what al Qaida stands for," the Kremlin said.