US President Barack Obama has decided not to release photographs of a dead Osama bin Laden out of concern that the graphic images may incite acts of terrorism or be used as by terrorists as a propaganda tool. US officials have described the photographs as gruesome.

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Wednesday, Obama said he was confident that bin Laden had been killed.

Obama said his administration had been monitoring world reaction and there was no doubt among Al-Qaida members that bin Laden is dead. “So we don’t think that photographs will make any difference. There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is you will not see bin Laden walking on this planet again,” he said.

Obama said when the SEALs team landed at the compound in Abbottabad they had “very strong confirmation at that point that it was bin Laden. Photographs had been taken. Facial analysis indicated that, in fact, it was him. We hadn’t yet done DNA testing, but at that point we were 95 per cent sure.”

Obama said he had seen the photographs and knew they were of bin Laden. “Keep in mind that we are absolutely certain that this was him. We’ve done DNA sampling and testing and so there is no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden,” he added.

Asked why he didn’t release the photographs, 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 or as a propaganda tool. That’s not who we are. We don’t trot out this stuff as trophies.”

In the past, the George W. Bush administration released photos of a dead Saddam Hussein, as well as graphic images the Iraqi president’s two sons, Uday and Qusay, to prove they had indeed been killed.

Obama said: “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 is gone.”

“But we don’t need to spike the football,” he added. “And I think that given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk - and I’ve discussed this with (Defence Secretary) Bob Gates and (Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton and my intelligence teams, and they all agree.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that “it is not in our national security interests to allow those images, as has … in the past been the case, to become icons ... to rally opinion against the United States.”

Meanwhile, Reuters news agency published photographs of three unidentified men it said had been killed during the raid on bin Laden’s compound. According to US officials, two Al-Qaida couriers and an unidentified woman were killed in the operation besides bin Laden. Reuters said it had bought the photographs from a Pakistani security official. No weapons were seen near any of the bodies. 

Washington, May 5
US elite Navy Seals team used top secret, never-before-seen stealth helicopters to swoop down on an unsuspecting Al-Qaida chief Osama bin-Laden in his Abbottabad safe haven and shoot him dead.

One of the secret choppers was disabled during the raid by the Seals, blowing it up in an apparent bid to ensure that the forntline technology did not fall into non-US hands, US media reports said.

The secret choppers have been kept under wraps by Pentagon and their use for the key mission suggests that the American military planners did not want to take any chances in the high-risk raid.

Pentagon officials are still keeping mum on whether or not stealth choppers were used, but ABC news citing American aviators said that photos of what survived the explosion has sent military analysts buzzing about a stealth helicopter programme that was only rumoured to exist.

Former defence officials say the modified variant of the Sikrosky H-60 Blackhawk features extra blades on the tail rotor allowing it to fly significantly less noisily and also has low observable technology similar to that of F-117 stealth fighter to enable it to evade Pakistan air force detection radars.

The US did not warn Pakistan about the raid for fear of leaks, but the helicopters nonetheless managed top fly to the compound from their base in Afghanistan without Pakistan military seemingly being alerted.

The choppers appear to have a modified tail boom to a noise reducing covering on the rear rotors and a special high-tech material similar to that used in stealth fighters.

Top former Pentagon officials say the bird is like nothing they have seen before. “This is a first,” they said. “You wouldn’t know that it was coming right at you. And that’s what’s important, because these are coming in fast and low, and if they aren’t sounding like they’re coming right at you, you might not even react until it’s too late... That was clearly part of the success.” — PTI 

BRIEFLY

Yunus loses final attempt to remain Grameen Bank chief
Dhaka: Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a final bid by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to overturn an order sacking him from the pioneering micro-finance bank he founded nearly three decades ago. The Supreme Court dismissed two petitions filed in connection with Yunus' removal from the post of managing director at Grameen Bank. Judges ruled that Grameen Bank was a government institution, not a private bank as Yunus and his legal team have maintained, meaning employees must abide by the state's mandatory retirement age of 60. — PTI

Millions vote in UK referendum
London: Millions of Britons on Thursday cast their votes in elections to local councils and a referendum on whether the current first-past-the-post voting system should stay or change to an alternative voting system. The referendum has generated much acrimony among the coalition partners Conservatives (who prefer current system) and Liberal Democrats (who prefer alternative vote system). Opinion polls indicate a landslide win for the campaign led by Conservative PM David Cameron to keep Britain's long-standing first past the post system, in which the candidate with the most votes wins. — PTI

21 cops killed in Iraq suicide bombing
Hilla: A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-filled car at a police station south of Baghdad killing 21 policemen on Thursday, as Iraqi forces braced for Al-Qaida revenge attacks after Osama bin Laden's death. The attack, which also wounded at least 75 policemen, was the worst in Iraq in more than a month, and pushed security chiefs to install new checkpoints, tighten access to key roads and restrict movement between provinces. — PTI