Peruvian President Alan Garcia on Monday hailed the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as the first miracle of the late pope John Paul II, dpa reported.
"His first miracle was to remove from the Earth the devilish incarnation of crime, of evil and of hatred," Garcia said in the city of Cusco.
John Paul II, pope from 1978 until his death in 2005, was beatified Sunday in Rome. Garcia was apparently serious as he connected this event to Bin Laden's death in Pakistan.
Garcia congratulated US President Barack Obama for the military raid in which Bin Laden was killed.