Osama bin Laden’s body was put aboard the San Diego-based USS Carl Vinson and placed into the North Arabian Sea after he was killed during a firefight with U.S. forces.
Bin Laden was killed toward the end of the firefight, which took place overnight Monday in a building at a compound north of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, according to officials.
An official at Monday's Pentagon briefing said the body, once aboard the USS Carl Vinson, was washed and placed in a white sheet. It was then placed in a "weighted bag," and a military officer read prepared "religious remarks," which were translated into Arabic by a "native speaker" who was not further identified.
The body was then placed on a "prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased's body eased into the sea," the official said.
Details on how the body was transported to the ship were not provided.
An intelligence official said the DNA match, using DNA from several family members, provided virtual certainty that it was bin Laden's body.
A U.S. official said it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains.
President Barack Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial.
