Osama killed and buried in sea
Obama refuses to release Bin Laden death photos - but graphic images ARE revealed of three men killed alongside Al Qaeda chief
It follows fierce debate among the President's senior advisers, many of whom had pushed for him to release the gruesome final shots of the Al Qaeda leader.
It was hoped that releasing the images would also put an end to any wild conspiracy theories that Bin Laden was still alive.
The photographs, released by Reuters news agency, show the graphic aftermath of the raid on Bin Laden's Abbottabad compound.
They were taken about an hour after the U.S. assault and show the three dead men, believed to be courier Arshad Khan, another trusted aide and Bin Laden's son Khalid, lying in pools of blood without weapons.
The President announced the Americans were ‘95 per cent sure’ it was Bin Laden before they shot him – and ‘absolutely certain’ afterwards, following DNA tests.
During an interview with CBS television's 60 Minutes, the President confirmed the pictures would remain secret however.
‘It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool.
‘That’s not who we are. We don’t trot this stuff out as trophies.
‘The fact of the matter is, this was somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received. And I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he has gone.
'I think that given the graphic nature of these photos it would create some national security risk.’
He claimed there was no doubt among Al Qaeda members that their leader was dead, adding: ‘So we don’t think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference’.
The debate about whether to release the Bin Laden photograph came amid reports from those who have seen it that it is horrific – supposedly featuring an empty eye socket and visible brain matter through a bullet wound to the skull.
There are apparently other, less gory images of Bin Laden’s hurried burial at sea, but they are not so clearly identifiable as the world’s most wanted man.
As a result there had been ongoing argument inside the White House about whether to provide pictorial evidence that may shock millions, and still fail to silence conspiracy theorists who could continue to claim any photographs were faked.
Last night CIA director Leon Panetta said that ‘ultimately’ a photograph of Bin Laden’s corpse will be released - although the President has contradicted him today.
He added: 'There is no doubt question at all that Osama bin Laden is dead. Americans feel a great sense of closure because of that.'
'This decision (not to release the photo) applies to all visual evidence.'
Mr Carney also added that U.S. forces had gone to 'considerable' efforts to give the Al Qaeda leader an appropriate Islamic burial.
'The respect that was shown to him and his body were far greater than the respect Osama Bin Laden showed to any of the victims of 9/11.'
Sources say Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates were advising the President that its release could invigorate an Islamic backlash, particularly in the run-up to Friday prayers.
Photographs were taken of the corpse, it is understood, at the scene, at a U.S. army base in Afghanistan, and on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier before the burial at sea.
One official shown a series of photographs of the body told reporters they looked like images from ‘a bad crime scene’, adding ‘It’s what you’d expect from somebody shot in the head with a high-calibre bullet’.
America has published ‘proof of kill’ photographs before – but provoked outrage across the Islamic world by doing so.
The pictures concerned were of Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay, killed by U.S. soldiers in Iraq in July 2003.
In the absence of a picture to show that Bin Laden is dead, some have claimed that the raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was fiction - and the world's most wanted man had not been killed.
The disclosure of images would have provided further closure to Americans nearly a decade after the September 11, 2001, attacks that he masterminded.
It could also disprove those who doubt the death of Bin Laden, who was shot in the head and chest in the fortified compound.
The internet is abuzz with claims that Bin Laden died long ago – perhaps of liver or kidney failure, perhaps killed in the allied assault on the Afghan Tora Bora mountains in 2001, perhaps assassinated at some other time.
The argument goes that his body was kept hidden, and his death a secret, so that America could justify the continuation of the War on Terror, along with billions in military expenditure. Only now, some suggest, has America decided it is time to announce his death, along with an elaborate cover-story.
It follows fierce debate among the President's senior advisers, many of whom had pushed for him to release the gruesome final shots of the Al Qaeda leader.
It was hoped that releasing the images would also put an end to any wild conspiracy theories that Bin Laden was still alive.
But within minutes of the White House announcement, graphic photographs - thought to show Bin Laden's son, a trusted courier and another aide killed in the raid - were made public today.
They were taken about an hour after the U.S. assault and show the three dead men, believed to be courier Arshad Khan, another trusted aide and Bin Laden's son Khalid, lying in pools of blood without weapons.
The President announced the Americans were ‘95 per cent sure’ it was Bin Laden before they shot him – and ‘absolutely certain’ afterwards, following DNA tests.
During an interview with CBS television's 60 Minutes, the President confirmed the pictures would remain secret however.
‘It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool.
‘That’s not who we are. We don’t trot this stuff out as trophies.
‘The fact of the matter is, this was somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received. And I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he has gone.
'The bottom line is that we got Bin Laden and I think we have to reveal [that] to the rest of the world'
He claimed there was no doubt among Al Qaeda members that their leader was dead, adding: ‘So we don’t think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference’.
The debate about whether to release the Bin Laden photograph came amid reports from those who have seen it that it is horrific – supposedly featuring an empty eye socket and visible brain matter through a bullet wound to the skull.
There are apparently other, less gory images of Bin Laden’s hurried burial at sea, but they are not so clearly identifiable as the world’s most wanted man.
As a result there had been ongoing argument inside the White House about whether to provide pictorial evidence that may shock millions, and still fail to silence conspiracy theorists who could continue to claim any photographs were faked.
Last night CIA director Leon Panetta said that ‘ultimately’ a photograph of Bin Laden’s corpse will be released - although the President has contradicted him today.
The U.S. went to 'extraordinary measures' to show respect to Bin Laden in his burial, Mr Carney said.
He added: 'There is no doubt question at all that Osama bin Laden is dead. Americans feel a great sense of closure because of that.'
'This decision (not to release the photo) applies to all visual evidence.'
Mr Carney also added that U.S. forces had gone to 'considerable' efforts to give the Al Qaeda leader an appropriate Islamic burial.
'The respect that was shown to him and his body were far greater than the respect Osama Bin Laden showed to any of the victims of 9/11.'
Sources say Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates were advising the President that its release could invigorate an Islamic backlash, particularly in the run-up to Friday prayers.
Photographs were taken of the corpse, it is understood, at the scene, at a U.S. army base in Afghanistan, and on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier before the burial at sea.
One official shown a series of photographs of the body told reporters they looked like images from ‘a bad crime scene’, adding ‘It’s what you’d expect from somebody shot in the head with a high-calibre bullet’.
America has published ‘proof of kill’ photographs before – but provoked outrage across the Islamic world by doing so.
The pictures concerned were of Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay, killed by U.S. soldiers in Iraq in July 2003.
In the absence of a picture to show that Bin Laden is dead, some have claimed that the raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was fiction - and the world's most wanted man had not been killed.
The disclosure of images would have provided further closure to Americans nearly a decade after the September 11, 2001, attacks that he masterminded.
It could also disprove those who doubt the death of Bin Laden, who was shot in the head and chest in the fortified compound.
The internet is abuzz with claims that Bin Laden died long ago – perhaps of liver or kidney failure, perhaps killed in the allied assault on the Afghan Tora Bora mountains in 2001, perhaps assassinated at some other time.
The argument goes that his body was kept hidden, and his death a secret, so that America could justify the continuation of the War on Terror, along with billions in military expenditure. Only now, some suggest, has America decided it is time to announce his death, along with an elaborate cover-story.
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