Washington - A U.S. official says Osama bin Laden has been buried at sea.
After bin Laden was killed in a raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan, senior administration officials said the body would be handled according to Islamic practice and tradition. That practice calls for the body to be buried within 24 hours, the official said. Finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult, the official said. So the U.S. decided to bury him at sea.
The official, who spoke Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters, did not immediately say where that occurred.
Comment: ABC News gives a different reason for the sea burial.
Osama Bin Laden's Body Buried at Sea, Official Says
Washington -- In accordance with Islamic law, the body of Osama bin Laden has been buried at sea, a U.S. official told ABC News.
Officials said the last thing they wanted is for bin Laden's burial place to become a terrorist shrine. In order to avoid that, his body was laid to rest at sea, leaving no definitive location for the final resting place of his body.
The al Qaeda leader was killed by U.S. forces Sunday in Pakistan.
Prior to bin Laden's burial, a senior administration official told ABC News, "We are ensuring [the body] is handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition. It's something we take seriously and therefore it's being handled in an appropriate manner.?"
Under Islamic tradition, the body is to be washed by Muslim men and buried as soon as possible, usually by the next prayer -- Muslims pray five times a day -- although there may be delays under certain circumstances. The body is usually buried in a simple white sheet, whether buried in the ground or at sea.
ABC News Radio
Comment: We have this from CBS.
Osama bin Laden's body buried at sea
Osama bin Laden, the long-time figurehead of the al Qaeda terrorist network, has been buried at sea after being killed in a U.S. raid in Pakistan.
U.S. officials told CBS News that bin Laden's body would be handled in accordance with Muslim traditions, which include strict rules on burial taking place within 24 hours after death.
Sources confirmed to CBS News national security correspondent David Martin that his body was released into the sea from a U.S. Navy vessel on Monday, likely into the Indian Ocean.
Bin Laden was a Saudi national, but officials tell CBS News that the Kingdom was unwilling to have his remains repatriated.
He was killed in a U.S. raid launched early Monday in the relatively-well-heeled town of Abbottabad, near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
You have just got to be kidding me..! And of course, the people, the academics, the media, the penguins, the garden gnomes and all will fall sagely into line like a parade of nodding dogs.
How do they keep a straight face when they announce this stuff? Do you think there is a competition going on who can thumb the biggest, dirtiest, stupidest lie at us and still get away with it?