Underwater mission to discover Osama's body in the limelight

Bill Warren, 59, an eccentric California-based diver has announced a rather ambitious plan to conduct an underwater mission to recover the body of Osama Bin Laden. Warren is currently gathering resources to scour the North Arabian sea bed which has an estimated surface area of four million square kilometers.

Warren was reported as saying that he wants to find proof that the Al-Qaeda leader is dead, and that he was really buried at sea from the USS Carl Vinson warship. I'm doing it because I am a patriotic American who wants to know the truth. I do it for the world. Warren said he would conduct a DNA test once he manages to find the body.

The Obama administration had earlier announced that Bin Laden was killed in a special assault operation carried out by the US Navy Seals at Abbottabad in Pakistan. US authorities later claimed that after the May 2 operation, Laden's body was buried at sea to avoid construction of a terrorist shrine.

It is anticipated that the expedition's total expenses will come around $400,000. This will include hefty rents for high-end boats, remote-controlled submarines and deployment of such other advanced technology. The experienced diver hopes to carry out the mission in about two weeks.

Bill Warren's announcement has come as a surprise, as many believe it is impossible to carry out such an extensive operation. Given the fact that no details of the coordinates of the corpse have been made public, many say that it will be a herculean task to locate the body.

Barring the DNA tests, Warren has also been ridiculed by many online forums for saying he hopes to take pictures and videos of the corpse once he finds it.

Warren, who has been diving commercially since 1972, has embarked upon a few other famous expeditions also. He is credited to have discovered the remains of more than 200 ship wrecks under the sea and is known to be a treasure hunter.

In early 1999, Warren's company Golden Quest was involved in a dispute with a rival expedition team to find the coronation riches of King Charles 1 buried under the sea. He had earlier tried his luck on the Port Royal shipwreck in Bahamas as well.

Warren had earlier tried his hand at exhuming the legendary 1705 San Francisco Xavier, although he got into a brawl with officials of the state of Oregon. Later, he accused the Oregon officials of calling him a 'grave robber', and seeing him as a pirate.

Instead of hoping to come across any underwater treasures, this time Warren seems to have been driven by his Russian girlfriend, who mentioned to him that Russian Intelligence circles do not actually believe Osama is dead.