Was Osama not buried but body flown to US for cremation?
March 7th, 2012 - 11:33 pm ICT by IANSLondon, March 7 (IANS) While former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is popularly known to have been given a sea burial, some emails leaked from an intelligence analysis firm have suggested that his body had actually been taken to the US for cremation.
According to the emails, the Al Qaeda chief, shot and killed during the famous Navy Seal Team Six raid on his compound in Pakistan’s Abbottabad city May 2, was transported back to the US and cremated, the Daily Mail reported.
The emails were allegedly obtained by the hacker group Anonymous from Stratfor, an organisation dealing with intelligence and geopolitical analyses.
After Osama was killed in the famous raid in Pakistan May 2, 2011, the Obama administration said his body was buried at sea off the USS Carl Vinson - in accordance with Islamic traditions.
Last week, Anonymous announced that it had got access to 2.7 million of the firm’s confidential correspondences, and said they could provide “the smoking gun for a number of crimes”.
The hackers said Stratfor, based in Austin, Texas, were “clueless” when it came to database security.
But in a particular set of emails given to WikiLeaks, the Stratfor’s vice president for intelligence, Fred Burton, says he doubts the official White House version of what happened to Osama’s body.
Burton says the body was “bound for Dover, [Delaware] on [a] CIA plane” and “onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda [Maryland]“.
- ISI, Pakistan Army knew about Osama hideout: WikiLeaks - Feb 28, 2012
- Pakistani army dismisses WikiLeaks' Osama allegations - Feb 29, 2012
- WikiLeaks publishes 5 mn emails from thinktank Stratfor - Feb 27, 2012
- Osama dumped 320 km off Indian coast - May 04, 2012
- Osama was unarmed, says White House - May 04, 2011
- Stratfor hits out at WikiLeaks over Bhopal spying charge - Feb 28, 2012
- White House backtracks, admits Osama was 'unarmed' when killed by US troops - May 04, 2011
- Osama bin Laden killed in Pakistan: Obama (Third Lead) - May 02, 2011
- Osama bin Laden's body fed to fishes - May 03, 2011
- Memo documents Obama's order to get Osama - Apr 27, 2012
- Bin Laden died before US raid: Iranian intelligence minister - May 10, 2011
- Pakistan was not consulted on Osama raid: Salman Bashir - May 05, 2011
- Osama was hale and hearty, says wife - May 07, 2011
- Osama's youngest wife to leave Pakistan for Yemen - Jun 22, 2011
- Osama's death in line with U.S. policy: Pak envoy - May 02, 2011
Tags: abbottabad, armed forces institute of pathology, bethesda maryland, correspondences, cremation, daily mail, database security, fred burton, hacker group, intelligence analysis, islamic traditions, london march, navy seal, obama, osama bin laden, sea burial, seal team six, smoking gun, stratfor, uss carl vinson