Osama Bin Laden killing: US Navy Seals row over shooting
Friday, 7 November 2014
A public row has arisen over which US commando fired the shot that killed Osama Bin Laden, more than three years after the al-Qaeda leader's death.
Ex-Navy Seal Robert O'Neill, 38, has told the Washington Post in an interview that he fired the fatal shot.
This contradicts the account of Matt Bissonnette, another former Seal involved in the raid, in a 2012 book.
The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a 2011 Navy Seal raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Navy Seals usually abide by a code of silence that forbids them from publicly taking credit for their actions.
Mr O'Neill, who retired in 2012, had previously told his story anonymously to Esquire magazine.
He was scheduled to reveal his identity in a television interview later this month, but news of the interview angered other former Seals.
A website run by ex-special forces personnel published his name pre-emptively, apparently in protest at his decision to claim credit for the shooting, according to a news agency.