Chinese activists silent after release

Activist Hu Jia and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, pose in their home on the outskirts of Beijing in 2007.Hu Jia's wife says in a Twitter post that he is safe and needs to restAi Weiwei declines to answer questions from reporters outside his homeArtist Guo Jian says police visit him regularly and agents shadow him in the streetsActivists say the Chinese government is targeting dissidents, intellectuals and artists

Beijing (CNN) -- Chinese authorities released prominent human rights activist Hu Jia Sunday, days after freeing renowned dissident artist Ai Weiwei.

"A sleepless night -- Hu Jia arrived at home at 2:30. He's safe and I'm very happy," Zeng Jinyan, Hu's wife, said in a Twitter post Sunday morning. "He needs to rest for a while."

Hu, 37, denounced China's human rights record in a series of articles ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was later sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for "inciting to subvert state power." Ai, the conceptual artist turned government critic, was released Wednesday on bail after authorities detained him for nearly three months for tax evasion, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The seemingly positive news, however, has been dampened by the noticeable silence of both once-outspoken activists.

While Ai declined to answer questions from reporters outside his home early this week, police Sunday guarded entrances to Hu's apartment compound and patrolled surrounding streets. Zeng, his wife, appeared unreachable via phone or the internet.

Zeng told CNN Friday that authorities started 24-hour surveillance on her several days before Hu's expected return. In an interview last December, she predicted a virtual prisoner's life for the couple in their housing complex, called Freedom City.

"Hu Jia told me that he won't change, and police told him they may put him under house arrest in that case," she said. "I'm prepared for it."

"As long as there's no democracy or the rule of law in China, our situation won't change at all."

Last year's Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, also a rights activist, was convicted of the same crime as Hu. Liu is still serving an 11-year jail term.

Activists say the Chinese government, worried about potential uprisings inspired by the Arab Spring, has been increasingly tightening its grip on freedom of expression, targeting not only political dissidents but also intellectuals and artists.

Guo Jian said he has noticed such chilling effects from his studio at the Songzhuang art village, not far from Hu's home.

The veteran artist has been working on a startling installation piece that shows the very symbol of state power being bombed and razed. In the still-untitled diorama, model warplanes hang by thin threads fly over a miniature Tiananmen Square. The heart of Beijing is dotted with bulldozers and tanks, with the iconic Tiananmen Gate and Chairman Mao's mausoleum smashed and half-destroyed.

"The police have sent someone to say, don't show your work or don't let other people know about it," he said. "They're really worried about what I'm doing."

Guo, 48, says for the first time in his 20-year career, police now visit him regularly and plainclothes agents sometimes shadow him on the streets.

Pointing to his unfinished diorama, Guo says the authorities' outdated mentality and methods -- silencing perceived dissent through intimidation and detention -- only reinforce the message in his work: the potentially explosive consequences of suppressing people's voices for too long.

While he feels heartened by the release of fellow-artist Ai and activist Hu, Guo remains concerned about the current crackdown and doesn't see it ending anytime soon.

"Even though we got someone back, the fear is there," he said.

CNN

Alaska governor's office to release Palin e-mails

NEW: Palin, aides express frustration with questions about children's travelPalin wanted to know about "past administration's dealing" with scandal figureThe 24,000 pages of records include e-mails include both official, personal accountsRelease of e-mails is in response to a 2008 Freedom of Information requestEditor's note: CNN is in Juneau, Alaska, to examine the more than 24,000 pages of Sarah Palin's emails being released by the Alaska governor's office. They will be available over the weekend on CNNPolitics.com and we invite our readers to examine them and contribute to the discussion.

Juneau, Alaska (CNN) -- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin moved quickly to link a key figure in a 2007 corruption scandal that rocked the state's political establishment to her defeated predecessor, newly released documents show.

"FYI -- I've asked Frank Bailey to help me track down soem [sic] evidence of past administration's dealing with Bill Allen," Palin wrote on May 8, 2007, a day after Allen pleaded guilty to bribery, extortion and conspiracy.

The document is one of the roughly 24,000 pages of records from Palin's administration released by Alaska state officials on Friday in response to requests from reporters dating to her 2008 entry into the national spotlight. The release follows Freedom of Information Act requests filed by CNN and five other news agencies made shortly after Palin was tapped to be Sen. John McCain's GOP vice presidential running mate.

Allen had been the CEO of the Alaska oilfield services company VECO, and federal prosecutors accused him of leading a scheme to bribe top lawmakers in exchange for favorable state action.

The day after Allen's guilty plea, Palin sent e-mails to staffers asking for information on his ties to her predecessor, Frank Murkowski. Palin had beaten Murkowski in 2006 in a primary battle in which she campaigned as a reformer, and backed an unsuccessful 2010 challenge to Murkowski's daughter, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Aides soon replied that VECO had paid $15,000 to fly Frank Murkowski and Allen to a Council of State Governments meeting in Thailand in 2004. Palin aides also asked Allen to resign from a seat on a state board that cultivated ties with the Canadian province of Alberta, a request to which Allen -- who was later sentenced to three years in prison -- quickly agreed.

Palin is now seen as a possible presidential candidate in 2012. A spokesman for her political action committee said the documents released Friday will show "a governor hard at work."

"The thousands upon thousands of e-mails released today show a very engaged Governor Sarah Palin being the CEO of her state," said Tim Crawford, treasurer of Sarah PAC, Palin's political action committee.

The messages detail the back-and-forth between Palin and her top aides as she pushed state support for a massive natural gas pipeline and new taxes on the oil and gas industry that supports the state's economy. It also gives a glimpse of the feedback that Palin was receiving when leading conservatives first began talking her up as a possible running mate for McCain, in the middle of 2008.

"As a life long Republican, I, along with many others, hope that you will come to the aid of your party and our great country and serve as our next Vice-President. Our party and our country need you," Georgia resident Douglas Brooks wrote. "As you can see, I am not a resident of the great State of Alaska, but even here in Georgia, we have heard about you and the great things you have done there."

And it shows her frustration with questions about her family's state-paid travel even before she entered the national spotlight, instructing an aide to remind a reporter "of the family travels w (with) me that I have personally pd (paid) for."

"Hopefully our records very clearly show that," Palin wrote in July 10, 2008. "Also, my return of every per diem offer for everything related to the kids ... and we need to be proactive in this issue with reminding him of all the steps taken to save state monies like no Anchorage apartment ... no chef ... security down from 7 to 2, whatever."

And longtime aide Kris Perry called the travel issue "ridiculous."

"We're talking about a Governor who had the state buy tickets on Hotwire saving the state hundreds of dollars rather than just going w/ the norm (much more expensive) or the fact that she often drives to the peninsula or Fairbanks or the fact that her family rarely travels w/her when most of the invitations are for first family."

Palin eventually paid back about $7,000 for travel expenses for her children after an ethics investigator determined nine trips were questionable. The settlement stated that Palin did not violate Alaska's ethics law or commit any wrongdoing, and that she followed the advice of experienced staff.

The documents released Friday include messages from both her official account as well as private accounts, according to Linda Perez, the administrative director for current Gov. Sean Parnell. A search was done "in an effort to capture everything in the state e-mail system" that would comply with the request, Perez said.

Some of the documents were redacted to remove names and others were withheld due to legal privileges. Perez said 2,275 pages are not being released.

E-mails for the remaining 10 months of Palin's tenure, before her resignation, are not yet being released. As early as last week, Palin said she was not worried about what was in the e-mails.

"I think every rock in the Palin household that could ever be kicked over and uncovered anything, it's already been kicked over," Palin told Fox News Sunday.

Palin told Fox News Sunday that "those e-mails obviously weren't meant for public consumption," saying she was sure the material would be taken out of context.

And Alaska Dispatch political columnist Amanda Coyne says all the attention is "for what I'm betting won't be much."

"There will be tidbits, but nothing that a few local reporters and bloggers couldn't cover quite nicely," Coyne wrote in a recent column.

CNN's Drew Griffin, Kathleen Johnston, Katie Glaeser and Steve Brusk contributed to this report.

CNN

Libyan rebels release 4 Frenchmen detained May 12 (AP)

PARIS – France's foreign ministry says four Frenchmen held by Libyan rebel forces on suspicion of spying have been released and are now in Egypt.

The four worked for a private security company and were detained by Libya's rebel forces at a checkpoint on May 12 in Benghazi, in eastern Libya. A rebel commander at the time accused them of spying. The fifth member of the group had died of wounds he suffered after being shot at the checkpoint.

The foreign ministry statement Saturday said the four Frenchmen were handed over to French consular officials in Egypt.

A statement from the Libyan rebels' transitional government last week said the Frenchmen were ordered arrested for alleged "illicit activities that jeopardized the security of free Libya."

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New Lady Gaga album leaks ahead of May 23 release (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Lady Gaga's heavily-hyped new album "Born This Way" made its way to the Internet on Wednesday, five days ahead of its official release on May 23.

All fourteen tracks from the album were initially streamed in Europe on a special website to readers of the London-based free newspaper Metro, which Gaga guest-edited on Monday as part of a promotional blitz for the new album.

They were also released on Wednesday to premium subscribers in Sweden, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands and Finland of the music streaming service Spotify.

But all the tracks soon made their way to the Internet, giving U.S. fans and reviewers an early chance to weigh in on the third album from the New York pop-dance performance artist.

Four of the singles have already been released by Gaga, including the title track which sold one million copies in five days in February and became the fastest-selling single in iTunes history.

But Rolling Stone magazine said in a track by track review on Wednesday that Gaga had "still managed to pack in some surprises".

Entertainment Weekly called it "an inconsistent blend of icy techno-pop and greeting-card empowerment that's more a triumph of production than songwriting."

Dan Martin with British music website NME.com described the album as "a relentless torrent of heavy metal rave pop." Martin added that "Born This Way" is "an exercise in the pushing of everything to its ultimate degree. And for all the black, white and silver, it passes that test with flying colors."

U.S. fans on Wednesday were split between downloading the album illicitly or waiting until its official release next week.

"Pretty stupid to preview it and not think such a highly anticipated album would leak. She should have just waited to release her album when it was meant to be released," commented a writer called Carrie on the Entertainment Weekly website.

Gaga's Interscope Records, part of Universal Music Group did not return calls for comment.

Gaga, 25, was named by Forbes on Wednesday as the world's most powerful celebrity, partly due to her dominance of social media, where she has 32 million Facebook fans.

"She can use Twitter and Facebook to work the 'little monsters' into a frenzy that leads to record sales and media attention. She's the best example of how celebrities will need to manage their careers in the coming years," Forbes editor Dorothy Pomerantz said.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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Obama decides not to release 'graphic' bin Laden photos

WASHINGTON — President Obama declared Wednesday that "you will not see bin Laden walking on this earth again" but said he would not release photos of the terrorist leader's corpse as proof that he is dead.

President Obama, speaking Wednesday at the White House, said of the photos, "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies."

"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence, as a propaganda tool," Obama told CBS' 60 Minutes in an interview to be broadcast Sunday. "You know, that's not who we are. You know, we don't trot out this stuff as trophies."

Obama's decision put an end to two days of speculation about whether the White House would release photos of the dead al-Qaeda leader or other images from the compound where he was shot on Monday or his subsequent burial at sea.

Although CIA Director Leon Panetta on Tuesday told NBC Nightly News that he didn't think there was any question that "ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public," White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama "held this opinion very firmly."

The White House has said repeatedly that there is ample evidence that Osama bin Laden is dead: from photos, DNA sampling and facial recognition technology. "There are going to be some folks that deny it," said Obama, alluding to conspiracy theorists. But "there's no doubt that bin Laden is dead," he said. "So we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference."

Reaction to his decision was mostly positive. "If there was a serious doubt out there, if people were claiming he was still alive, that (would be) different," said former 9/11 Commission chairman Tom Kean, a Republican. "But it seems to me that everyone is in agreement that he's dead. So particularly if it's graphic, I don't see the necessity of it."

Carie Lemack, whose mother Judy Larocque died aboard American Airlines Flight 11 on 9/11, said, "There are people out there who are going to continue to demand proof, but I don't think that releasing the photos would give them the proof. I want to make sure nobody else dies because of this man."

Lemack plans to attend today's ceremony at Ground Zero in New York City, where Obama will lay a wreath at the site of the World Trade Center towers. Former president George W. Bush declined Obama's invitation to join him, citing a desire to stay out of the spotlight. Obama, who will not make public remarks, plans private meetings with relatives of 9/11 victims and first responders.

In Congress, the heads of the House and Senate intelligence committees also said they support keeping the images classified. "I don't think that the timing is such that something incendiary is the right thing to do." said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate committee. Said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., head of the House panel: "I don't want to make the job of our troops serving in places like Iraq and Afghanistan any harder than it already is."The risks of release outweigh the benefits. Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East. ... Imagine how the American people would react if al-Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the Internet. Osama bin Laden is not a trophy ? he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until al-Qaeda has been eliminated."

But opinion was not unanimous. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Obama's decision "a mistake."

"The whole purpose of sending our soldiers into the compound, rather than an aerial bombardment, was to obtain indisputable proof of Bin Laden's death," Graham said. "I know bin Laden is dead. But the best way to protect and defend our interests overseas is to prove that fact to the rest of the world," he said.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin also disapproved. She tweeted: "Show photo as warning to others seeking America's destruction. No pussy-footing around, no politicking, no drama; it's part of the mission."

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., had another idea: keep the images under seal for a period of time, maybe 10 years, and then make them available. "The free flow of information is not just a matter of good government, but a necessary part of our democracy," Nelson wrote in a letter to Obama.

Obama's decision to withhold the images came as the White House also stopped releasing details of the dramatic raid on bin Laden's compound. One day after officials corrected misstatements by counterterrorism czar John Brennan, who had said bin Laden had been armed and that his wife had been killed, Carney said no more details about the raid would be released because the methods used by the Navy SEALs in the operation are top-secret and that secrecy must be maintained for possible future raids.

"In terms of the operational details, we have gotten to the point where we cannot cross lines because of the necessity for preserving the methods and operational techniques and capabilities of the kinds of forces that were used in this case," he said. "We've gone to the limit of our ability to do that and still maintain some of the things we need to maintain and be kept secret."

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Obama rejects bin Laden photo release

Washington (CNN) -- Despite mounting pressure from some lawmakers and dissent within the ranks of his top advisers, President Barack Obama decided not to release photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body, a White House spokesman said Wednesday.

"It is not in our national security interest ... to allow these images to become icons to rally opinion against the United States," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

"We have no need to publish those photographs to establish that Osama bin Laden was killed," he said.

Shortly after U.S. officials announced the decision, a news agency published photographs it said were taken by a Pakistani security official shortly after the raid.

The images, published by Reuters Wednesday, showed three men lying in pools of blood and the wreckage of a U.S. helicopter abandoned during the assault. None of the pictures appeared to show bin Laden's dead body.

White House officials remained firm in their assertion that releasing graphic photos of bin Laden could incite more violence.

To further explain the controversial choice, Carney read Obama's remarks from the transcript of a Wednesday afternoon interview.

"That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff as trophies. The fact of the matter is that this is someone who is deserving of the justice he received. ... We don't need to spike the football," Obama told CBS News.

Obama's decision settles the debate over whether the United States will release the images. But opinions about whether the U.S. government's photographs should be public were anything but unanimous among U.S. lawmakers and members of the public at home and abroad.

Some argued releasing the images would put to rest any critics or conspiracy theories, while others countered that the graphic photos would only inflame jihadists.

A senior Democratic official close to the White House told CNN that the president was "never in favor" of releasing the photos, even as CIA chief Leon Panetta made it sound like their release was imminent.

Carney said Obama consulted Cabinet and security officials before he made his choice Wednesday morning, and a majority of them weighed in against releasing the photographs.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were among those who supported Obama's inclination to keep the pictures classified, the senior Democratic official said.

But Panetta said Tuesday he thought a photograph of bin Laden's body would be released at some point. "I just think it's important -- they know we have it -- to release it," the CIA director said.

The president's inner circle was not happy with those remarks, the senior Democratic official said.

But a senior Obama administration official said debates over the pros and cons of releasing the photos were "not at all contentious." The official admitted that "leaks are possible," but said that did not sway the president from reaching his decision.

Carney stressed that Obama wanted to hear differing perspectives to inform his choice.

"He wanted to hear the opinions of others, but he was very clear about his view on this," Carney said.

"There are obviously arguments to be made on either side."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the decision a "mistake."

"I know bin Laden is dead. But the best way to protect and defend our interests overseas is to prove that fact to the rest of the world," he said in a written statement. "I'm afraid the decision made today by President Obama will unnecessarily prolong this debate."

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, also said Obama made the wrong choice about the photos.

"I want to see them, personally," he said. "I did three tours. I'm not talking as a member of the Armed Services Committee -- (but) as a Marine who did three tours because of 9/11. As Americans we deserve to see them."

But House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said he shares the president's view.

"In my opinion, there's no end served by releasing a picture of someone who has been killed, and I think there is absolute proof that Osama bin Laden was in fact the person ... killed," he said.

Lawmakers involved in national security began debating the issue well before Obama's decision.

The top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee has argued they should be made public right away.

"I think the question is, what's the negative that could come from it?" asked Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. "One of these days they're going to be released; it's a question of whether it be now on our terms or (let) somebody else do it."

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, who chairs the Armed Services Committee -- and who has not seen the photos -- had argued that the United States should wait to allow the emotions of people around the world who may be sympathetic to bin Laden to cool down.

"I'd let a little time pass so we that we don't play into the hands of people who want to retaliate with what obviously will be a sensational picture. I would not want to feed that sensation, so I'd wait days or weeks," he said.

Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson suggested temporarily keeping the photos confidential, but releasing them eventually.

In a letter sent to the White House Wednesday, he proposed establishing a review process "to release all relevant photographs as early as 10 years from now," or when the president "determines their release would no longer endanger the lives of Americans."

While some Republican leaders criticized Obama, the debate over the photographs did not entirely split along party lines.

Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers of Michigan said he was against releasing any photos, saying that he didn't want to make the job of U.S. troops abroad "any harder than it already is."

"Imagine how the American people would react if al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the Internet. Osama bin Laden is not a trophy -- he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until al Qaeda has been eliminated," he said.

House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, a Republican from New York who has argued that the photographs should not be classified, said he understood Obama's call.

"While I have said that a photo release may be a good way to combat the predictable conspiracy theories about bin Laden's death, this is a decision for the President to make, and I respect his decision," he said in a statement.

Obama's choice comes as a poll shows that a majority of Americans support making the photographs public.

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday, 56% of those asked said yes, the government should release a photo of bin Laden's body. Another 39% said no. The poll of 700 adults had a sampling margin of 3.5%.

The government has said it matched DNA to confirm that the body was bin Laden's, and most have accepted that news as evidence of the outcome of the operation.

Some groups, however -- including the Taliban -- have questioned the assertion.

"Obama has not got any strong evidence that can prove his claim over killing of the Sheikh Osama bin Laden," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahed said. "And secondly, the closest sources for Sheikh Osama bin Laden have not confirmed" the death.

And at a university in the affluent Pakistani town where U.S. officials say troops killed bin Laden, a group of students clamored to tell CNN why they doubted the al Qaeda leader had been killed in the raid.

"If it is true, then why they are not showing his body?" one asked.

Similar doubt and demands for evidence that bin Laden is dead echoed on the streets of Islamabad.

"I believe this is all fake," one man said. "Wherever he is, he's alive."

But the White House has dismissed such criticisms.

"There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this Earth again," Obama told CBS.

None of the photos published by Reuters appeared to show bin Laden. One photo shows a man, clad in a T-shirt, lying in a large pool of blood that appears to spread from the back of his head. Two other men pictured appear to have died from extensive head and chest wounds.

The White House has received three sets of photographs, according to a senior U.S. official. One batch, which clearly shows bin Laden's body, was taken at a hangar in Afghanistan, the official said.

The official described one of the images as a clear, but gruesome, picture of the al Qaeda leader's face. Bin Laden is shown with a massive open head wound across both eyes, the official said, adding that the image would not be appropriate for the front pages of newspapers.

The other photos include the raid on the compound and bin Laden's burial at sea, according to the official.

CNN's Ed Henry, John King, Jessica Yellin, Ted Barrett, Ed Hornick, Dana Bash, Dan Lothian, Susan Candiotti, Nick Paton Walsh and Leone Lakhani contributed to this report.

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Obama nixes bin Laden photo release, but debate continues

Washington (CNN) -- Despite mounting pressure from some lawmakers and dissent within the ranks of his top advisers, President Barack Obama decided not to release photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body, a White House spokesman said Wednesday.

"It is not in our national security interest ... to allow these images to become icons to rally opinion against the United States," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

"We have no need to publish those photographs to establish that Osama bin Laden was killed," he said.

Shortly after U.S. officials announced the decision, a news agency published photographs it said were taken by a Pakistani security official shortly after the raid.

The images, published by Reuters Wednesday, showed three men lying in pools of blood and the wreckage of a U.S. helicopter abandoned during the assault. None of the pictures appeared to show bin Laden's dead body.

White House officials remained firm in their assertion that releasing graphic photos of bin Laden could incite more violence.

To further explain the controversial choice, Carney read Obama's remarks from the transcript of a Wednesday afternoon interview.

"That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff as trophies. The fact of the matter is that this is someone who is deserving of the justice he received. ... We don't need to spike the football," Obama told CBS News.

Obama's decision settles the debate over whether the United States will release the images. But opinions about whether the U.S. government's photographs should be public were anything but unanimous among U.S. lawmakers and members of the public at home and abroad.

Some argued releasing the images would put to rest any critics or conspiracy theories, while others countered that the graphic photos would only inflame jihadists.

A senior Democratic official close to the White House told CNN that the president was "never in favor" of releasing the photos, even as CIA chief Leon Panetta made it sound like their release was imminent.

Carney said Obama consulted Cabinet and security officials before he made his choice Wednesday morning, and a majority of them weighed in against releasing the photographs.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were among those who supported Obama's inclination to keep the pictures classified, the senior Democratic official said.

But Panetta said Tuesday he thought a photograph of bin Laden's body would be released at some point. "I just think it's important -- they know we have it -- to release it," the CIA director said.

The president's inner circle was not happy with those remarks, the senior Democratic official said.

But a senior Obama administration official said debates over the pros and cons of releasing the photos were "not at all contentious." The official admitted that "leaks are possible," but said that did not sway the president from reaching his decision.

Carney stressed that Obama wanted to hear differing perspectives to inform his choice.

"He wanted to hear the opinions of others, but he was very clear about his view on this," Carney said.

"There are obviously arguments to be made on either side."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the decision a "mistake."

"I know bin Laden is dead. But the best way to protect and defend our interests overseas is to prove that fact to the rest of the world," he said in a written statement. "I'm afraid the decision made today by President Obama will unnecessarily prolong this debate."

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, also said Obama made the wrong choice about the photos.

"I want to see them, personally," he said. "I did three tours. I'm not talking as a member of the Armed Services Committee -- (but) as a Marine who did three tours because of 9/11. As Americans we deserve to see them."

But House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said he shares the president's view.

"In my opinion, there's no end served by releasing a picture of someone who has been killed, and I think there is absolute proof that Osama bin Laden was in fact the person ... killed," he said.

Lawmakers involved in national security began debating the issue well before Obama's decision.

The top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee has argued they should be made public right away.

"I think the question is, what's the negative that could come from it?" asked Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. "One of these days they're going to be released; it's a question of whether it be now on our terms or (let) somebody else do it."

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, who chairs the Armed Services Committee -- and who has not seen the photos -- had argued that the United States should wait to allow the emotions of people around the world who may be sympathetic to bin Laden to cool down.

"I'd let a little time pass so we that we don't play into the hands of people who want to retaliate with what obviously will be a sensational picture. I would not want to feed that sensation, so I'd wait days or weeks," he said.

Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson suggested temporarily keeping the photos confidential, but releasing them eventually.

In a letter sent to the White House Wednesday, he proposed establishing a review process "to release all relevant photographs as early as 10 years from now," or when the president "determines their release would no longer endanger the lives of Americans."

While some Republican leaders criticized Obama, the debate over the photographs did not entirely split along party lines.

Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers of Michigan said he was against releasing any photos, saying that he didn't want to make the job of U.S. troops abroad "any harder than it already is."

"Imagine how the American people would react if al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the Internet. Osama bin Laden is not a trophy -- he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until al Qaeda has been eliminated," he said.

House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, a Republican from New York who has argued that the photographs should not be classified, said he understood Obama's call.

"While I have said that a photo release may be a good way to combat the predictable conspiracy theories about bin Laden's death, this is a decision for the President to make, and I respect his decision," he said in a statement.

Obama's choice comes as a poll shows that a majority of Americans support making the photographs public.

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday, 56% of those asked said yes, the government should release a photo of bin Laden's body. Another 39% said no. The poll of 700 adults had a sampling margin of 3.5%.

The government has said it matched DNA to confirm that the body was bin Laden's, and most have accepted that news as evidence of the outcome of the operation.

Some groups, however -- including the Taliban -- have questioned the assertion.

"Obama has not got any strong evidence that can prove his claim over killing of the Sheikh Osama bin Laden," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahed said. "And secondly, the closest sources for Sheikh Osama bin Laden have not confirmed" the death.

And at a university in the affluent Pakistani town where U.S. officials say troops killed bin Laden, a group of students clamored to tell CNN why they doubted the al Qaeda leader had been killed in the raid.

"If it is true, then why they are not showing his body?" one asked.

Similar doubt and demands for evidence that bin Laden is dead echoed on the streets of Islamabad.

"I believe this is all fake," one man said. "Wherever he is, he's alive."

But the White House has dismissed such criticisms.

"There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this Earth again," Obama told CBS.

None of the photos published by Reuters appeared to show bin Laden. One photo shows a man, clad in a T-shirt, lying in a large pool of blood that appears to spread from the back of his head. Two other men pictured appear to have died from extensive head and chest wounds.

The White House has received three sets of photographs, according to a senior U.S. official. One batch, which clearly shows bin Laden's body, was taken at a hangar in Afghanistan, the official said.

The official described one of the images as a clear, but gruesome, picture of the al Qaeda leader's face. Bin Laden is shown with a massive open head wound across both eyes, the official said, adding that the image would not be appropriate for the front pages of newspapers.

The other photos include the raid on the compound and bin Laden's burial at sea, according to the official.

CNN's Ed Henry, John King, Jessica Yellin, Ted Barrett, Ed Hornick, Dana Bash, Dan Lothian, Susan Candiotti, Nick Paton Walsh and Leone Lakhani contributed to this report.

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CIA says release of Osama bin Laden's photo likely

Washington (CNN) -- CIA Director Leon Panetta said Tuesday he thinks a photograph of Osama bin Laden's body will be released at some point, but that it is up to the White House to make the final call.

A senior administration official said that no decision has been made yet as to whether to release the photo.

"I just think it's important, they know we have it, to release it," Panetta said.

He did not know when the photograph might be made public.

Two Democratic senators, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Tuesday night they expected a photograph to be released shortly, but they did not have an exact time frame either.

Osama bin Laden's dead, now what?

An image of bin Laden's body could help to convince doubters about his death, but it could also inflame passions against the United States. U.S. officials have said they are weighing the appropriateness of such a release.

According to a senior U.S. official, the White House has received three sets of photographs. The first batch, which clearly show bin Laden's body, was taken at a hangar in Afghanistan, the official said.

The official described one of the images as a clear, but gruesome, picture of his face. Bin Laden is shown with a massive open head wound across both eyes, the official said, adding that the image would not be appropriate for the front pages of newspapers.

The other photos include the raid on the compound and bin Laden's burial at sea, according to the official.

Widely distributed photo is a fake

Tuesday, Sen. Diane Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she saw no need to release an image since there is other evidence to prove bin Laden is dead.

"I just don't see a need to do it," she said. "The DNA has been dispositive."

But Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman said it may be necessary to release an image to erase any doubts.

"I've said unless al Qaeda acknowledged that bin Laden was dead, it was important for the United States to release pictures of his body to confirm he is dead," he said Tuesday.

CNN's Jessica Yellin and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

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Trump: I'll release tax returns if Obama releases birth certificate

Donald Trump says he'll disclose his finances if he runs for president, but may not release his income tax returns unless President Obama releases his birth certificate.

Trump made his comments in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's Good Morning America. He has vowed to say by June whether he'll seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

The real estate executive told host George Stephanopoulos that he's "done a great job" with his company and vowed to "do a full disclosure of finances."

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Parents furious over release of man they blame for daughter's death

John Burgess, shown here in 2007, admitted to drugging 19-year-old Donna Jou and dumping her body at sea. STORY HIGHLIGHTSJohn Burgess admitted drugging Donna Jou and disposing of her body after she diedHe pleaded guilty in 2009 and is now about to be released from prisonThe victim's parents say he should stay in jail and the case should be reopenedDistrict attorney's office says it would talk to the Jou family but hasn't been contactedRELATED TOPICSCalifornia Department of Corrections and RehabilitationCaliforniaCrime and LawLos Angeles (CNN) -- A sex offender who admitted drugging a 19-year-old California woman and then, after she died, dumping her body at sea is scheduled to be released Friday after less two years in prison, outraging the victim's parents.

Nili and Reza Jou are organizing a demonstration Friday in Los Angeles. Also on Friday, John Steven Burgess, 38, is to leave the California Institution for Men in Chino, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's website.

The Jous' daughter, Donna, was last seen alive in 2007. Her body has never been found.

"We have been victimized not only by Burgess, we have also been victimized by the criminal justice system," Reza Jou, the victim's father, told HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell. "We are outraged."

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, noting an early release is up to the state's corrections department, said her office had believed the family's attorney initially appeared "quite pleased with the outcome" of the 2009 plea deal that landed Burgess in jail. One condition of that agreement was that Burgess sit down with Jou's relatives and answer their questions.

Spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the district attorney's office hasn't heard from the Jous or their attorneys in recent weeks, including regarding Friday's planned protest or their desire to have the case reopened.

"They have not contacted us directly," Gibbons said. If the family wants to talk with authorities Friday, "we will talk to them," she said.

According to a release from the district attorney's office detailing the case, Donna Jou -- then a San Diego State University student -- had met Burgess after posting an ad on the online site Craigslist. She was offering her services as a math tutor for other students, her parents said.

Nili Jou described her daughter as "compassionate" and "full of life." According to a tribute website by her parents, Donna Jou had a 4.4 grade-point average in high school and scored 1,570 out of a possible 1,600 on the SAT test

"She was smart," Nili Jou told HLN's Vinnie Politan. "She just made a (mistake) trusting someone she didn't know."

Burgess admitted to authorities that on June 23, 2007, Donna Jou came to his Los Angeles home for a party. He said that he gave the young woman various drugs, including cocaine, heroine and alcohol, the district attorney's office said after Burgess pleaded guilty to two charges related to the case in May 2009. The morning after the party, he said, he woke up and found Jou dead.

"He said he panicked and used his sailboat to dump her body in the ocean," the district attorney's office said.

The Jous criticized the prosecution's approach, saying it relied excessively on the testimony of a person they call suspicious -- Burgess.

"This man is a big liar, a criminal," said Reza Jou.

Before Donna Jou's disappearance, Burgess had been convicted in January 2003 in Los Angeles for committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child 14 or 15 years old and was listed as a sex offender.

Related to that conviction, in late 2007 Burgess was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading no contest for failing to register as a sex offender in California.

While behind bars, Burgess was arraigned in March 2009 in connection with the Donna Jou case. Two months later, he confessed to one count each of involuntary manslaughter and one misdemeanor count count of concealing an accidental death. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped drug-related charges.

A judge subsequently sentenced Burgess to a maximum sentence of five years for the two crimes to which he had pleaded guilty. Now he is scheduled for early release.

The Jous said they don't believe that Burgess, who expressed remorse at his sentencing, has been rehabilitated.

"No way, it's impossible," Nili Jou said. "We are joking ourselves ... (He) won't change."

CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

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Leading black scholar dies days before book release

Leading black scholar dies days before Malcolm X biography release By Katie Silver, CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTSColumbia University director of black history center dies at 61Dr. Manning Marable wrote 20 booksUpcoming book on Malcolm X has high expectations New York (CNN) -- Dr Manning Marable, director of Columbia University's Center for Contemporary Black History has died, according to a statement from the NAACP. He was 61.

The statement did not give a cause of the Friday death.

"Dr. Marable's contributions to the struggle for freedom of African Americans will never be forgotten," stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.

"Dr. Marable brought one of the keenest intellects of our age to the contemporary conversation on race in America," Jealous said.

Born in 1950, Dr Marable was a professor at Cornell, Fisk, Colgate, Ohio State and Colorado universities before founding the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia in 1993, according to the website for the Columbia center, CCBH.

This center went on to become one of the nation's most prestigious centers on African-American Study, the website said.

A prolific author, Dr Marable wrote some 200 articles and 20 books, though many have said his forthcoming 594-page book, ""Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,"" is one of his life's great achievements.

"So much that has been written and portrayed on Malcolm X has been a series of iconic, misleading images," Dr Marable told CNN in 2003. "He's been expropriated by everybody from the hip-hop generation to the U.S. Postal Service."

"Let's now document the true meaning of Malcolm through his own words," Dr Marable said.

A public memorial service is planned for May 27 by his wife, three children and two stepchildren, according to the NAACP release.

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