US media wants photos of Osama body, burial Requests under FoIA filed by AP, Fox News, others
WASHINGTON: Several leading US media organisations have filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the pictures and videos of Osama bin laden dead body and his burial.
Besides the leading news agency Associated Press, Politico, Fox News, Judicial Watch and Citizens United have also submitted such petitions.
President Obama’s decision to withhold the visual evidence of Osama bin Laden’s death has created a fundamental disagreement between the White House and one of the largest journalism organisations in the world. “This information is important for the historical record,” said Michael Oreskes, senior managing editor at The Associated Press. The AP filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the photographic and video evidence taken during the raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The organisation’s FOIA request included a reminder of the president’s campaign pledge and a plea to be more transparent than his predecessor. “The White House ‘pledged to be the most transparent government in US history and to comply much more closely with the Freedom of Information Act than the Bush administration did.’”
Two days later, the president told 60 Minutes he would not release any of the footage related to the raid, including video of bin Laden’s deep sea burial and photographs of his slain corpse.
Source: The News
Date:5/12/2011
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