Osama bin Laden buried at sea

Lalit K Jha Washington, May 2 (PTI) Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's body was disposed off in the waters of the North Arabian Sea after conducting the last rites according to Islamic tradition, including washing the corpse.It is believed that US gave a sea burial to the world's most wanted terrorist as it felt that his land burial may become a site to attract extremist followers across the globe.

Osama's body, which was taken by US Special Forces after they shot him dead, was washed and wrapped in a white cloth on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, pentagon officials said.Later, the body was dumped in the sea, they said.Before the burial, the officials said, the US used multiple methods to positively verify bin Laden's body. 

They included positive identification by a woman, who is believed to be his wife. The woman was captured from the mansion where the terrorist was killed.They said the DNA test conducted on him was 100 per cent success and it established that the body was that of bin Laden.

The last rites were conducted just hours after he was killed by US forces in a secret operation Abbottabad, 120 kms from Islamabad.The officials said a huge cache of materials have been seized from the mansion and hoped that they would contain some "sensitive information." 

Burying his body at sea would ensure that his final resting place does not become a shrine and a place of pilgrimage for his followers as that of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain, whose grave has been converted into a tomb, which is treated more like a shrine by his followers.

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