Obama won’t release bin Laden photos, cites risks

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama  said in a television interview today he decided not to  release photos of Osama bin Laden’s body because it could  incite violence and be used as an al Qaeda propaganda tool.
“We’ve done DNA sampling and testing and so there was no  doubt we had killed Osama bin Laden,” Obama told CBS’s “60  Minutes” program, according to an excerpt released by the White  House. “The fact is you will not see bin Laden walking on this  Earth again.”
The Obama administration had been wrestling with whether to  release photos of a dead bin Laden, who was killed in a U.S.  raid on his Pakistani compound on Monday, and the president  said he and his advisers agreed the images should not be made  public.
“It is important for us to make sure that very graphic  photos of someone who was shot in the head are not floating  around as an incitement to additional violence or as a  propaganda tool,” Obama said. “That’s not who we are. We don’t  trot out this stuff as trophies.”
Obama’s press secretary, Jay Carney, read out a portion of  the interview that will air on Sunday.
“The fact is this was someone who was deserving of the  justice he received,” said Obama. “But we don’t need to spike  the football. And I think that given the graphic nature of  these photos, it would create some national security risks.”
Asked about his response to some people in Pakistan saying  the United States was lying about having killed bin Laden,  Obama said: “The truth is that we were monitoring worldwide  reaction. There is no doubt that bin Laden is dead.
“Certainly there is no doubt among al Qaeda members that he  is dead. And so we don’t think that a photograph in and of  itself will make a difference. There are going to be folks who  will deny it.”