NPR 2011-05-05

President Obama will not release photos of Osama bin 1 Laden 2’s body more than two days after the al-Qaeda leader was killed by US forces in Pakistan. NPR’s Ari Shapiro reports the president decided 3 that the photos’ graphic 4 nature could create national security risks.

There was disagreement in the administration over whether to release these photos. CIA Director Leon Panetta told lawmakers that these images would come out. White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president decided that they would not.

“Every member of the national security team is aware of and expressed the downside of releasing, which is, I think, weighed heavily on the president, in terms of the potential risks that would pose to Americans serving abroad and Americans traveling abroad.”

Carney said the majority of the president’s team supported keeping the photos secret. He said there is no question that Osama bin Laden is dead, but there will be no visual evidence released at all. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

A doctor who sold the land on which bin Laden’s Pakistan compound was built identifies the buyer as Mohammad Arshad. Intelligence says Arshad was known to be one of two Pakistanis men often seen coming out of the mansion 5. According to the Associated Press, property records show Arshad purchased plots in four stages between 2004 and 2005. The doctor who identified Arshad described the man as a humble 6 individual.

The lead prosecutor 7 of the International Criminal Court says he plans to seek arrest warrants for three individuals in Libya. He did not give names, but as NPR’s Michele Kelemen reports, the prosecutor says there is evidence of war crimes.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo says 500 to 700 people were killed in Libya in February alone as authorities cracked down on protests. Ocampo said he will ask judges to issue arrest warrants for three individuals who he alleges 8 incited 9 or ordered arrests, torture, killings 11 and rapes 12.

“Arresting those who ordered the commission of crimes will contribute to the protection of civilians 13 in Libya.”

The prosecutor was speaking to the UN Security Council, where US Ambassador Susan Rice said the specter of ICC prosecution 14 is “serious and imminent” and should warn those around Libyan leader Mummuar Gaddafi about the perils 15 of tying their fate to his. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

The US government is taking 5,500 gray wolves off the Endangered Species List in eight states. Some are in the Northern Rockies, but the majority of the affected 16 wolves are in the western Great Lakes, where a public comment period is required before the wolves are officially removed from that list. The administration’s decision turns control of the animals to state wildlife agencies. Public hunts for hundreds of wolves are planned in Montana and Idaho this fall.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down more than 0.5% at 12,723. NASDAQ down about 0.5% at 2,828.

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A former New Orleans police officer could get a new trial on charges of altering a report on a civilian’s killing 10 following Hurricane Katrina. Eileen Fleming of member station WWNO reports a federal judge is basing his decision on new evidence.

The former officer says he did not change a report to favor a co-defendant ultimately convicted of shooting Henry Glover during the chaotic 17 days after Hurricane Katrina. Glover’s body was later found in a burned-out car. A federal judge says a report that surfaced after the December conviction is grounds for a new trial. The officer was part of a civil rights case handled by the Department of Justice. Prosecutors 18 will now decide if they’ll re-file the case. For NPR News, I’m Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.

The Army Corps 19 of Engineers is thinking about blasting more holes and levees along the Mississippi River to spare communities, but it will also mean putting other land further south underwater. It ran up against resistance earlier this week from Missouri residents, whose land was inundated 20 with water in order to save Cairo, Illinoi, a town of 2,800. Corps spokesman Bob Anderson says the military has the authority to open levees further south on the Mississippi River.

“To protect that system, which protects those populated areas, like New Orleans, Morgan City, Greenville, Pittsburgh, cities belong to the system, then we will use those tools to keep people safe.”

But Anderson says unlike the levee intentionally 21 breached 22 via explosives near Cairo, the levees further south won’t have to be blown up because they have gates.

The Dow’s down 84 points before the close at 12,723.

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.