By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States may release later on Tuesday photos of Osama bin Laden's burial at sea, a U.S. official told Reuters, in a move that might quieten speculation the al Qaeda leader was not really killed in a U.S. raid on his Pakistani compound.
Beyond disproving naysayers, the disclosure of images of bin Laden could provide further closure to Americans nearly a decade after the September 11, 2001, attacks that he masterminded, killing nearly 3,000 Americans.
But if the Obama administration releases the photos, they could offend Muslims or be exploited by extremists.
"I know there are some people who are interested in having that visual proof. This is something we are taking into account," President Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, told National Public Radio on Tuesday.
"But what we don't want to do is to release anything that might be either misunderstood or that would cause other problems."
U.S. officials have told Reuters of the existence of imagery of bin Laden's corpse -- both from the site where he was shot dead as well as later from the U.S. aircraft carrier that was used to conduct his burial on Monday in the Arabian Sea.
The U.S. official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity only confirmed the possibility that photos from the burial might be released on Tuesday. At the same time, the official said no decision had been made.
U.S. officials have said facial recognition software and DNA testing prove the body is bin Laden's.
So far the White House has released only photos of Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials watching a live video of the raid on bin Laden.
TALIBAN QUESTIONS DEATH
The Afghan Taliban on Tuesday called reports of bin Laden's death "premature," saying the United States had not provided sufficient evidence he was killed. The Taliban harboured bin Laden in southern Afghanistan before and immediately after the September 11 attacks.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein acknowledged some value in releasing images in order to provide proof-positive evidence that bin Laden was dead. But at the same time, she said: "I just don't see a need to do it," pointing to the DNA evidence.
Releasing photos of the burial at sea could be less controversial than images of bin Laden's corpse. His shrouded body was placed in a weighted bag and eased into the north Arabian Sea, the U.S. military said.
Still, some analysts warned that objections from some Muslim clerics to the sea burial could stoke anti-American sentiment.
The clerics questioned whether the United States followed proper Islamic tradition, saying Muslims should not be buried at sea unless they died during a voyage.
A U.S. defence official said bin Laden's body was washed according to Islamic custom and receiving a religious funeral.
U.S. officials have offered various reasons for doing an at-sea burial, including the need to bury him within 24 hours according to Islamic custom. Others have said it would prevent bin Laden's grave from becoming a shrine.
(Additional reporting by Paul Simao and Susan Cornwell in Washington and Hamid Shalizi in Kabul; Editing by Paul Simao and Bill Trott)
