FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, basking in U.S. public approval for the killing of Osama bin Laden, flew to a military base in Kentucky on Friday to thank special forces who carried out the deadly raid and led a rally filled with cheering troops.

With his poll numbers up and even Republican critics congratulating him for the bin Laden operation, Obama paid tribute to the elite military team in a secrecy-shrouded meeting at Fort Campbell five days after announcing the al Qaeda leader was dead.

Commandos who conducted the assault on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan gave Obama first-hand accounts of what happened, and he awarded them the highest presidential honor a military unit can receive, a U.S. official said.

"It was a chance for me to say on behalf of all Americans and people around the world: Job well done," Obama told a jubilant audience of soldiers just returned from tours of duty in Afghanistan.

Obama said "justice for Osama bin Laden" showed his Afghanistan war strategy was working and he repeated his pledge to start withdrawing troops from the country this summer.

Obama's visit, just a day after attending a somber wreath-laying ceremony at the Ground Zero site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York, came as questions grew about initial U.S. details of the airborne assault on bin Laden's hide-out.

U.S. acknowledgment that bin Laden was unarmed when shot in the head -- as well as the sea burial of his body, a rare practice in Islam -- has drawn criticism in the Muslim world and Europe, where some warn of a backlash against the West.

But most Americans regard the secretive special operations unit that killed bin Laden -- the mastermind of the September 11 hijack-plane attacks on the United States -- as national heroes, and Obama came to thank some of them personally.

Soldiers gathered in a giant aircraft hangar festooned with American flags and a band belting out rock 'n' roll tunes. A huge "Job well done!" banner hung from the wall.

The strike team for the bin Laden operation included SEAL commandos who underwent weeks of intensive training for the nighttime assault on bin Laden's high-walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

'NIGHT STALKERS'

The sprawling Kentucky base is home to the U.S. Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, a unit nicknamed the "Night Stalkers" and whose helicopter pilots were reported to have flown the mission.

Obama's meeting with special forces operatives was held privately to protect the secretive nature of their work.

Secrecy was so tight that journalists traveling with Obama were removed from his motorcade and not even allowed to see the exterior of the special operations center where the meeting took place.

Obama is already reaping dividends from bin Laden's death, with most recent polls showing his job approval rating jumping above 50 percent since the raid.

But the boost could be short-lived as voters focus again on the struggling economy, lingering unemployment and high gasoline prices -- top public concerns considered crucial to Obama's re-election chances next year.

The killing of bin Laden will make it easier for Obama, however, to fend off criticism he is weak on national security, charges that Republicans have deployed effectively against Democrats for decades.

Although Obama has cautioned against triumphalism over bin Laden's death, even his political opponents seem willing to let him savor it.

"This has been an extraordinary week for our nation," he told the troops. "The terrorist leader who struck our nation on September 11 will never threaten our nation again." But he warned that "this continues to be a very tough fight."

White House spokesman Jay Carney insisted earlier that Obama was not "gloating" about bin Laden's demise and was mindful the war against al Qaeda was far from over.

Al Qaeda confirmed on Friday that bin Laden was dead and vowed to mount more attacks on the West.

Obama's visit was also a chance to try to rally support for the war effort in Afghanistan while reassuring Americans about his commitment to his long-standing pledge to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July.

With the demise of the man who came to symbolize Islamist militancy, Obama is already facing pressure from some lawmakers to speed up the U.S. exit from an unpopular war 10 years after Washington helped topple Afghanistan's Taliban for sheltering bin Laden and al Qaeda after the September 11 attacks.

But U.S. officials have insisted that while seriously weakened by the loss of bin Laden, al Qaeda remains a dangerous force and it is time to step up efforts to crush it.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Peter Cooney)

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her astronaut husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, dined out with friends at a Houston restaurant recently, another step in her gradual recovery from gunshot wounds, a spokesman confirmed on Friday.

Accompanied by security personnel, Giffords was taken by wheelchair into a private wine room at Grotto Ristorante, an upscale Italian restaurant in the Galleria area of Houston on Sunday, her spokesman, C.J. Karamargin said.

Giffords and Kelly dined with Tilman Fertitta, president and chief executive of Landry's Restaurants, and his wife Paige.

The dinner date was the first reported public outing since Giffords left Houston's Memorial Hermann Hospital rehabilitation facility to watch the final launch of the space shuttle Endeavour in Florida last week.

The launch was postponed but NASA has reset the launch date for May 16. Giffords' husband Kelly is scheduled to be on that mission.

A hospital spokesman confirmed that Giffords remains at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research.

"As her doctors have said, one of the goals with her therapy was to get her prepared to attend the launch and with that, acclimated to life outside of (the hospital)," said James Campbell of Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Giffords was critically wounded in January as she held a public meeting with constituents outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona. Authorities have accused Jared Lee Loughner, a troubled college dropout, of shooting Giffords in the head at point blank range in attempted murder.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Mexican man who crossed into the United States illegally has been indicted for second-degree murder in the shooting death of a U.S. border patrol agent last December, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday.

Manuel Osorio-Arellanes was arraigned in a Tucson, Arizona courtroom for second degree murder as well as conspiracy to assault a federal officer and firearms possession charges, the Justice Department said.

The death of the border patrol agent, Brian Terry, has led to criticism of the Obama administration by Republicans over what they say is poor security on the U.S.-Mexican border. Drug cartels have battled each other on the Mexican side for years.

Questions have also arisen as to whether the guns used in the shooting came from an U.S. undercover operation aimed at cracking down on weapons being smuggled across the border into Mexico.

Osorio-Arellanes was part of an armed group of illegal immigrants who had crossed into Arizona and exchanged gunfire with border patrol agents, according to U.S. prosecutors. Osorio-Arellanes was wounded in the firefight and arrested.

"Today's indictment is an important step in this case, but it is only a first step to serving justice on behalf of Agent Brian Terry, his family and the other agents who were with Terry and their families," said Dennis Burke, U.S. Attorney for Arizona, said in a statement.

Others were charged for the death, but those names remained under seal. U.S. prosecutors said the individual who is believed to have fired the fatal shot fled the scene and is still being sought.

"This is an active ongoing investigation that is making more and more progress every day," Burke said.

A trial date was set for June 17 in U.S. District Court in Tucson. If convicted of second degree murder, Osorio-Arellanes faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and Tim Gaynor; editing by Anthony Boadle)