Additional images of Osama bin Laden taken shortly after his death in a daring Navy SEAL raid have been found by the CIA - but all of the photos will remain unseen by the public.
The discovery was announced on Friday in a letter from the Justice Department.
The new pictures would add to about 52 grusesome shots of the terror leader's body after he was killed in May 2011 by members of SEAL Team Six as they raided his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Those photos were requested in a Freedom of Information filing by Michael Bekesha of Judicial Watch after the federal government ruled they must be kept classified for national security purposes.
In a letter to Mr Bekesha obtained by The Huffington Post, the Justice Department said that 'the CIA recently located seven additional images of Osama Bin Laden's body from the May 1, 2011 operation that resulted in his death.'
The letter went on: 'These additional images were not located during the CIA's search for responsive records in this case. However, these images of Bin Laden's corpse are of the same nature as the
materials the CIA previously identified [as classified].'
materials the CIA previously identified [as classified].'
A lower court has already upheld the government's argument that the photos should remain secret in the interest of national security, according to WestWingReports.com.
But a federal appeals court is now considering whether the 52 pictures should be released to Judicial Watch, a conservative-leaning legal watchdog.
The group says it is not seeking any information about equipment or techniques used in the raid.
Viewing the raid: President Obama and his key staffers watch the Navy SEAL mission at Osama bin Laden's compound in this White House photo
But President Obama has maintained that the photos' release could endanger American citizens.
During a recent '60 Minutes' interview, Obama said it was important to ensure that 'very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool.'
After bin Laden was killed, the Obama administration said his body was buried at sea off the USS Carl Vinson - in accordance with Islamic tradition.
The raid itself was completed shortly after 1am local time when bin Laden was shot once in the chest and once in the head by a U.S Navy Seal who announced: 'For God and country Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.'
Geronimo was the code-name given to the al-Qaeda leader.
As Obama himself said in the White House Situation Room watching events unfold: 'We got him.'
On TV: Bin Laden is shown watching himself on television in this video frame grab released by the U.S. Pentagon May 7, 2011, six days after his death
Safe house destroyed: Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound is pictured in May 2011 (left). It was demolished months later (seen at right)
Before the U.S Navy SEALs left the compound, they destroyed one of the two top-secret stealth helicopters that had brought them to the house after it encountered difficulties on landing and therefore could not take off again.
Intelligence recovered from the home made public in the aftermath of his death showed Osama bin Laden wrapped in a blanket and watching news coverage of himself.
And it was later reported from Pakistan that one of bin Laden's wives told the Pakistani authorities that they had lived there for five years without detection.
In February 2012, Pakistani security agencies demolished the building to stop it becoming a shrine to the al-Qaeda boss.
