The former US Navy Seal who claims to
be the soldier who fired the shots that killed Osama Bin
Laden is being investigated for possibly leaking classified
information, the US military confirmed on Tuesday.
US Navy spokesperson Ryan Perry said investigators
were probing claims that Rob O'Neill had broken the law
by disclosing details about the daring 2011 raid that
ended a 10-year manhunt for Bin Laden.
"The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is in
receipt of an allegation that Mr O'Neill may have
revealed classified information to persons not authorised
to receive such information," Perry said in an email to
AFP.
"In response, NCIS has initiated an investigation to
determine the merit of the allegations."
O'Neill, 38, ignited a firestorm of controversy last
month after coming forward to claim that he was the
man who shot Bin Laden through the forehead at his
hideout in Abbottabad three years ago.
The highly decorated Montana native told The
Washington Post that he was near the head of the
column of US soldiers that raided Bin Laden's
compound, adding that at least two other SEALs fired
shots.
However O'Neill's decision to go public dismayed military
brass and serving SEALS who maintain a fierce,
Omerta-like code of silence.
Another former Seal, Matt Bissonnette, who published
his account of the raid, "No Easy Day" in 2012, took
issue with O'Neill's version of events.
"Two different people telling two different stories for two
different reasons," Bissonnette said. "Whatever he says,
he says. I don't want to touch that."
O'Neill told the Post he had decided to come forward
after meeting with relatives of victims of the September
11 2011 attacks on the World Trade Center in New
York.
"The families told me it helped bring them some
closure," O'Neill said.
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