Give us 'conclusive' proof - bin Laden son

Osama bin Laden's family want proof that the terrorist leader is dead and an investigation into how he was killed.

The United States says U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden during a May 2 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he was hiding out.

The forces collected a trove of intelligence from the compound and later buried bin Laden's body at sea. The Obama administration has decided not to release photos of the slain bin Laden, but the CIA has today announced some U.S. lawmakers will be allowed to view them.

In a statement released to the New York Times, Omar bin Laden said the absence of a dead body, photographs or video evidence meant he and his brothers were not convinced their father is dead.

"We seek such conclusive evidence to believe the stories published in relation to 2 May 2011 operation Geronimo as declared by the President of United States Barack Hussein Obama in his speech that he authorized the said operation and killing of OBL and later confirmed his death," the statement said.

In an interview that aired earlier this week on America's CBS network, President Barack Obama explained why he didn't want to release the gory photos of the fallen terrorist leader.

"We don't trot out this stuff as trophies," the president told CBS' Steve Kroft on "60 Minutes." "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," Obama said.

Jean Sasson, an author who helped bin Laden's son Omar write a memoir, told CNN the family are simply seeking more information.

"They just really want some answers, and they would just really like to know what exactly happened, why they weren't called," said Sasson, who worked with Omar bin Laden to pen his memoir titled "Growing Up bin Laden."

Bin Laden's relatives "would like to have been able to have witnessed seeing the body, at least identified the body, because, you know how it is in the Middle East so many times: They really need proof or people start believing -- this has been discussed by a lot more people than me -- that many people will not believe that he's dead," Sasson told CNN.

Asked about the statement, Sasson said Omar bin Laden -- who has publicly denounced his father's violence -- contacted her and told her he has some things to say. She said she prepared a letter for him and he approved it.

The statement argued that if bin Laden has been "summarily executed," "international law" might have been "blatantly violated" and that U.S. legal standards were ignored.

Meanwhile a new poll shows President Barack Obama's approval rating has hit its highest point in two years.

The Associated Press-GfK poll - taken after the raid - found 60 percent of Americans now say he deserves to be re-elected.


- Herald Online staff