WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has decided not to release photographs of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's body, a senior administration official told NBC News on Wednesday.
Obama also announced the decision not to release post-mortem photos during an interview Wednesday with CBS' "60 Minutes."
The White House had been weighing the release of a photo, in part to offer proof that bin Laden was killed during a raid on his compound early Monday. However, officials had cautioned that the photo was gruesome and could be inflammatory.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, many of whom have seen the pictures taken by Navy SEALs, agreed with the president.
"In my opinoin there is no end served by releasing a picture of someone who has been killed," Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said during an unrelated news briefing on Wednesday. "I think there is absolute proof that Osama bin Laden was in fact the person that was taken into custody... killed in the firefight."
"Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway," GOP House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers told CBS, "and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."
The decision comes a day after CIA director Leon Panetta said that a photo proving the death of bin Laden "would be presented to the public," but the comment quickly drew a response from the White House saying no decision has yet been made.
"The bottom line is that, you know, we got bin Laden and I think we have to reveal to the rest of the world the fact that we were able to get him and kill him," Panetta said in an interview with Nightly News.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42900991/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/
Obama also announced the decision not to release post-mortem photos during an interview Wednesday with CBS' "60 Minutes."
The White House had been weighing the release of a photo, in part to offer proof that bin Laden was killed during a raid on his compound early Monday. However, officials had cautioned that the photo was gruesome and could be inflammatory.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, many of whom have seen the pictures taken by Navy SEALs, agreed with the president.
"In my opinoin there is no end served by releasing a picture of someone who has been killed," Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said during an unrelated news briefing on Wednesday. "I think there is absolute proof that Osama bin Laden was in fact the person that was taken into custody... killed in the firefight."
"Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway," GOP House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers told CBS, "and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."
The decision comes a day after CIA director Leon Panetta said that a photo proving the death of bin Laden "would be presented to the public," but the comment quickly drew a response from the White House saying no decision has yet been made.
"The bottom line is that, you know, we got bin Laden and I think we have to reveal to the rest of the world the fact that we were able to get him and kill him," Panetta said in an interview with Nightly News.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42900991/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/
