MANILA, Philippines—White House officials decided before Monday’s firefight in northern Pakistan that if US troops killed Osama bin Laden, they would bury him at sea in order to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine for his followers.
They planned to include all rites associated with Muslim burials, John O. Brennan, US President Barack Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, said on Monday.
Brennan stressed that the sea burial followed Islamic custom. He said the body was washed in accordance with the custom, placed in a white sheet, then put inside a weighted bag.
“The disposal of—the burial of Bin Laden’s remains was done in strict conformance with Islamic precepts and practices,” said Brennan, who added that the administration had consulted with Islamic experts.
“It was prepared in accordance with the Islamic requirements,” he said. “We early on made provisions for that type of burial, and we wanted to make sure that it was going to be done, again, in strict conformance. So it was taken care of in the appropriate way.”
But some Islamic scholars and clerics were divided on Monday over whether the sea burial, off a US aircraft carrier in the North Arabian Sea, was appropriate or an insult to Muslims.
The Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI), the country’s highest Islamic body, assailed the US decision to bury Bin Laden at sea.
“[For] a Muslim, whatever his profession, even a criminal, [the] rites must be respected. There must be a prayer and the body should be wrapped in white cloth before being buried in the earth, not at sea,” MUI chief Amidhan said. “Many others have condemned it, especially as it was done with extraordinary hatred against him.”
ID by wife
According to a senior US intelligence official, after members of the Navy SEALs killed the man they believed to be Bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan on Monday, Central Intelligence Agency agents compared DNA samples with the profiles of several family members to confirm his identity, finding a “virtually 100-percent” match.
One of Bin Laden’s wives, who was living in the compound, identified the body, the official added. CIA specialists also compared photographs of the body with known photographs of Bin Laden.
Brennan said the various forms of identification created “a growing sense of confidence and a growing sense of accomplishment.”
“There wasn’t one ‘aha’ when people say, you know, OK, the DNA results came in,” he said. “No, this is something that was building over time, and we made a decision then last night, because we felt as though we were confident enough to go out to the American people and out to the world, to say we got him.”
No photos—yet
The Obama administration has not yet decided whether to release photographs of the body, Brennan said.
The indecision over whether to release the photographs reflected the administration’s desire to end speculation about whether the man killed was really Bin Laden—and its fears that the pictures would inflame and rally jihadists.
Defense officials said the administration had reached out to one other country to take the body for burial but that the country refused.
One official who, like others, quoted in this article spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules imposed by the administration would not name the country, though some news outlets have cited Saudi Arabia, where Bin Laden was once a citizen.
Brennan said that appealing to other countries would have exceeded the time frame that Islamic custom required of burial within 24 hours of death.
After the firefight in Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, military forces transferred the body to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, in the North Arabian Sea, first making an unspecified stop en route, a senior defense official said.
With only a small group of witnesses, a military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a “native speaker,” the official said.
The body was placed on a board, tipped up and then “eased into the sea” from the carrier’s lowest deck, the official said.
It was unclear on Monday to what extent the thousands of sailors and other personnel aboard the Carl Vinson were aware of the burial as it was occurring. The official did not identify the native speaker or say whether he was a Muslim cleric.
‘Shrines are powerful’
Akbar Ahmed, the chair of the Islamic studies department at American University, said the sea burial prevented Bin Laden’s resting place from becoming a focus for discontent.
“Shrines are very powerful,” he said. “Shrines of controversial figures in Muslim history become centers to attract the angry, the disenchanted. The shrine bestows powers of religious charisma. If they allowed Osama bin Laden to be buried in Pakistan, his followers would show up, plant flowers, and women will say the shrine has healing powers, especially among the uneducated. His myth would continue to grow.”
On the other hand, Ahmed said, the secretive burial at sea may also give rise to anger and speculation about whether Bin Laden was really dead.
“You really want to see him. When something like this is done under cover of dark, it leaves a lot of people asking questions,” Ahmed said. New York Times News Service; with a report from Agence France-Presse