US tests bin Laden's DNA, used facial ID

WASHINGTON: The United States carries out DNA tests on the dead al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and used facial recognition technology to help identify, a U.S. official said Monday.

Bin Laden was identified by the assault force who killed in a shootout in Pakistan where he resisted and was shot in the head, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The results of DNA tests should be available in the coming days, the official told Reuters.

The strike force was on the ground for less than 40 minutes and the CIA director Leon Panetta and other intelligence officials in a conference room at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, since the operation real time, the official said.

"When the word came in that the operation was a success, CIA officials in the conference room had a large enough applause," the official said.