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President Barack Obama: 'There is no doubt that we killed Osama Bin Laden' - Footage courtesy CBS News, 60 Minutes
President Barack Obama has decided that photos of the dead Osama Bin Laden should not be released.
US officials had been discussing whether to publish pictures of Bin Laden's body to counter conspiracy theories that he did not die.But Mr Obama believed the images could inflame sensitivities, saying: "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies."
The al-Qaeda leader was shot dead in a raid on Monday by US special forces in northern Pakistan.
The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says that President Obama has clearly decided that releasing the photos is not worth the risk.
Computer files Mr Obama revealed his decision during an interview with CBS television's 60 Minutes programme.
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On the other hand, there was concern the photos might inflame anti-US sentiment. There has been almost no triumphalism from the Obama administration - great pains were taken to detail the respect with which Bin Laden's body was treated.
That could all have been undone with the release of photographs, and many doubters in any case would have found reason not to believe in their authenticity. The White House, and most Americans, believe they got their man. So, says Jay Carney, does al-Qaeda. That was clearly enough for Mr Obama.
Analysis
If this was a tough decision for the White House, the president's spokesman didn't give much hint of agonising debate. The photos' release had been expected in order to prove definitively that Osama Bin Laden was dead. Much the same desire was behind the release of photos of Uday and Qusay Hussein, after they were killed in a shootout with US forces in 2003.On the other hand, there was concern the photos might inflame anti-US sentiment. There has been almost no triumphalism from the Obama administration - great pains were taken to detail the respect with which Bin Laden's body was treated.
That could all have been undone with the release of photographs, and many doubters in any case would have found reason not to believe in their authenticity. The White House, and most Americans, believe they got their man. So, says Jay Carney, does al-Qaeda. That was clearly enough for Mr Obama.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a briefing that Mr Obama believed it was important to make sure that photographs were not "floating around as incitement or as a propaganda tool".
Mr Carney said the administration had been monitoring world reaction and there was no doubt that al-Qaeda believed Bin Laden was dead."There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you won't see Bin Laden walking on this Earth again," Mr Obama said.
"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," he added.
"I think that, given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk."
Mr Obama's decision prompted a mixed reaction from US politicians, some of whom were shown the photos.
Steny Hoyer, the number two Democrat in the House of Representatives, said he shared the president's view.
"In my opinion there's no end served by releasing a picture of someone who has been killed," he said, quoted by CNN.
But senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said the decision was a mistake.
"I know Bin Laden is dead," he said. "But the best way to protect and defend our interests overseas is to prove that fact to the rest of the world. I'm afraid the decision made today by President Obama will unnecessarily prolong this debate."
The US president's decision contradicted a statement made a day earlier by CIA director Leon Panetta, who said the photos would be released at some stage.
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Mardell's America
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There is the suspicion that the US never wanted to take Bin Laden alive”
The decision came as US officials began to comb through computer hard-drives, mobile phones and USB sticks found during the US Navy Seals raid on the compound in Abbottabad where Bin Laden was hiding.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said Washington expected to add more names to its terrorism watch-list as a result of data seized from the compound.Two telephone numbers and 500 euros ($745; £450) were also found stitched into Bin Laden's clothing, there in case he needed to make a quick getaway.
Critics have raised concerns about the legality of the operation, after the US revised its account to acknowledge Bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead.
But Mr Holder said Bin Laden was a lawful military target, whose killing was "an act of national self-defence".
He told lawmakers in Congress: "Let me make something very clear: The operation in which Osama Bin Laden was killed was lawful.
"It was a kill-or-capture mission. He made no attempt to surrender."
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US Attorney General Eric Holder: "His killing was appropriate"
The 54-year-old Bin Laden - American's most wanted man - was buried at sea from a US aircraft carrier, say US officials.
Mr Obama, who watched the raid from the White House on monitors, saw his approval rating jump 11 points to 57% in a New York Times/CBS News poll on Wednesday.
He plans to visit the World Trade Center site in New York on Thursday to remember victims of the 11 September attacks, of which Bin Laden was said to have been the mastermind.
The compound where the operation took place is just a few hundred metres from the Pakistan Military Academy.
In unusually frank remarks, CIA director Leon Panetta told Time magazine: "It was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardise the mission. They might alert the targets."
Pakistan rejected the US suggestions it could not have been trusted in advance.
Some US lawmakers are calling for billions of dollars in aid for Pakistan to be reduced or stopped altogether.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13287977