U.S. says bin Laden photo "gruesome," weighs release

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration wrestled on Tuesday with releasing what it called a gruesome image of Osama bin Laden's corpse, even as militants started questioning whether U.S. forces really killed him.

One U.S. official said images of the al Qaeda leader's burial at sea could be released later on Tuesday but added no decision had been made. The tone of White House comments suggested an intense debate was under way.

"It's fair to say that it's a gruesome photograph," said White House spokesman Jay Carney, appearing to refer to an image of bin Laden taken shortly after a U.S. strike team killed him at his Pakistani compound.

"I'll be candid. There are sensitivities here in terms of the appropriateness of releasing photographs of Osama bin Laden."

The disclosure of images could provide further closure to Americans nearly a decade after the September 11, 2001, attacks that he masterminded, killing nearly 3,000 Americans. It could also disprove naysayers doubting the death of bin Laden, who was shot in the head and chest at a fortified compound outside of Islamabad.

But critics say such photos are distasteful and if the Obama administration releases them, they could offend Muslims or be exploited by extremists.

"What we don't want to do is to release anything that might be either misunderstood or that would cause other problems," said President Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, speaking on National Public Radio.

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 as they received live updates on 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 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.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said "I personally think it's morbid and I'm not one that's going to be yelling to make the photo public."

"But this decision will have to be made by the president," Reid said.

Releasing photos of the burial at sea could be less controversial than images of bin Laden's corpse just after his death.

At the funeral service, his shrouded body was placed in a weighted bag and eased into the north Arabian Sea. Religious remarks were translated into Arabic and read aloud, the U.S. military said.

Still, some analysts warned that objections from Muslim clerics to the sea burial could stoke anti-American sentiment.

The clerics questioned whether the United States properly followed Islamic tradition, saying Muslims should not be buried at sea unless they died during a voyage.

U.S. officials have offered various reasons for the 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, Susan Cornwell and David Alexander in Washington and Hamid Shalizi in Kabul; Editing by Paul Simao and Bill Trott)

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