Obama decides not to release bin Laden photos

President Barack Obama decided not to release photographs of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's body, saying they could incite violence and be used by militants as a propaganda tool.

Attorney General Eric Holder, seeking to head off suggestions that killing bin Laden was illegal, said the US commandos who raided his Pakistani hide-out on Monday had carried out a justifiable act of national self-defense.

In deciding not to make public the pictures of the corpse, Obama resisted arguments that to do so could counter skeptics who have argued there is no proof that bin Laden, who was rapidly buried at sea by US forces, is dead.

"I think that given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk," Obama told the CBS program "60 Minutes."

"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence. As a propaganda tool," the president added.

"There's no doubt that Bin Laden is dead," Obama said. "And so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this earth again."

Obama's decision followed intense debate in his administration. CIA Director Leon Panetta had said on Tuesday the pictures would be released.

Washington also had to weigh sensitivities in the Muslim world over what White House spokesman Jay Carney called "a gruesome photograph." US Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte said she had seen a picture showing bin Laden's face and believed it confirmed his identity.

Defending the killing of what the White House has acknowledged was an unarmed bin Laden, Holder said he was a legitimate military target and had made no attempt to surrender to the American forces who stormed his fortified compound near Islamabad and shot him in the head.

"It was justified as an act of national self-defense," Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee, citing bin Laden's admission of being involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.

It was lawful to target bin Laden because he was the enemy commander in the field and the operation was conducted in a way that was consistent with US laws and values, he said, adding that it was a "kill or capture mission."

"If he had surrendered, attempted to surrender, I think we should obviously have accepted that, but there was no indication that he wanted to do that and therefore his killing was appropriate," he said.

US acknowledgment on Tuesday that bin Laden held no weapon when shot dead had raised accusations Washington had breached international law. Exact circumstances of his death remained unclear and could yet fuel controversy, especially in the Muslim world.