Obama Watches Live As Bin Laden Is Killed

Pictures have been released of US President Barack Obama watching live footage of the operation that killed Osama bin Laden.
The al Qaeda leader was shot dead by US special forces who stormed his villa in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in the early hours of Monday morning local time.

Bin Laden's compound was close to a military garrison and was only around 40 miles from the capital, Islamabad.

Photographs issued by the White House show the president and other members of his team looking tense as they watch live video of the mission as it happened.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is shown with a particularly anxious expression, with a hand clasped over her mouth.

US chief counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan was also among those viewing the footage.

He said: "It was probably one of the most anxiety-filled periods of time. It was clearly very tense, a lot of people were holding their breath.
"There was a fair degree of silence as the operation progressed.

"Minutes passed like days and the president was concerned about security of his personnel."

He added that a "tremendous sigh of relief" came in response to confirmation that bin Laden was among those found in the compound.
Asked how Mr Obama reacted when he received the news that bin Laden had been killed, Mr Brennan recalled that the president had said "We got him".

Mr Brennan said he would not reveal details "about what types of visuals we had or what type of feeds that were there but it was - it gave us the ability to actually track it on an ongoing basis".
The Navy Seal team that carried out the operation were likely to have been wearing helmet cameras that were able to transmit video and sound back to command centres.

One picture shows the president and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US Navy Admiral Mike Mullen sharing what appears to be a congratulatory handshake.

Obama Will Not Release Gruesome Osama Pics

US President Barack Obama has decided not to release photographs showing Osama bin Laden's corpse - as gruesome details of the images emerged.

The pictures of the al Qaeda leader reportedly show an open gun shot wound to his head, part of the skull missing and visible brain matter.

One of bin Laden's eyes is reportedly open in the images, while the other is "completely gone".

But the US President said in an interview with American TV network CBS - to be screened on Sunday - that he has concluded the pictures should not be made public.

"That's not who we are," he said.
I don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public. 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.
Leon Panetta, CIA director

The President feared doing so may prompt a similar response to that seen after images of Saddam Hussein's dead sons were published in 2003.

There may also have been security concerns for two separate reasons. Firstly, Mr Obama is due to appear in public at New York's Ground Zero on Thursday.

Secondly, there were fears releasing any inflammatory photo so close to Friday's day of prayer could trigger violent protests.

Mr Carney had previously told reporters the set of pictures taken in an aircraft hangar in Afghanistan are "gruesome".
Another set of images, taken as bin Laden was buried at sea from the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, are easier to view, but not obviously the terror network leader.

It is unclear whether those pictures will be released.

But while reservations persisted within the White House about the photographs' publication, the CIA clearly believed it would help prevent any conspiracy theories from taking root.

The agency's chief, Leon Panetta, told NBC's Nightly News programme: "The government obviously has been talking about how best to do this, but I don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public.

"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."

Sky News US political analyst Jon-Christopher Bua said: "To release or not to release that is the question.

"Photos of 'dead martyrs' have a long life span."