WASHINGTON, May 7: The Pentagon on Saturday released home videos of Osama bin Laden, seized at his secret compound in Abbottabad where he was shot dead by US commandos on May 2.

The tapes show him watching himself on television, and preparing a video message addressed to the US.

At a news briefing in Washington, the Pentagon also released a propaganda video recorded by Bin Laden.

All five videos, released on Saturday, were seized during the last week’s raid. They show Bin Laden inside his hideout,watching himself on television and rehearsing for terrorist propaganda videos.

Apparently, the videos are part of a US effort to convince the American public and others in the world that the Qaeda chief was indeed killed by US commandos.

The videos also reinforce the American claim that Bin Laden was still a threat as he is shown as urging more attacks around the world.

In the videos, Bin Laden comes across as someone obsessed with his portrayal by the world’s media.

One of the movies shows Bin Laden, wrapped in a brown blanket and holding a remote control, flipping back and forth between clips of himself. The small television was perched on top of a desk with wires running to a nearby cable or control box.

In another, he has apparently dyed and neatly trimmed his beard for the filming of a propaganda video.

The evidence seized during the raid also includes phone numbers and documents that officials hope will help break the back of the organisation behind the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The cache includes digital, audio, video, personal correspondence and documents.

The first video contains a previously unreleased message from Bin Laden directed to the United States that was believed to have been filmed between Oct 9 and Nov 5 2010.

In the video, which begins with animated pre-production work, he appears to have dyed his beard black, is wearing a golden shawl over a white vestment and is wearing a white skullcap.

The second video, which runs over a minute, shows Bin Laden watching himself on television and holding the remote control to change the channels between what appear to be Arabic news channels.

The clip begins with a long shot of the screen, showing a list of satellite channels. The camera then pulls out and Bin Laden is shown sitting down with a blanket over his shoulders and a wool cap. His beard is grey and white.

At one point Bin Laden asks the cameraman to go back to the TV screen so it can focus on him holding a weapon.

The remaining three videos show him practising possibly for the first video. In each of them he appears to stumble in his speech, stop and begin over.

Agencies add: The compound where US forces killed Osama bin Laden was an “active command centre” from which he directed Al Qaeda, a US intelligence official said on Saturday as he released the videos.

The official said information carted away from the compound by US forces represented the largest trove of intelligence ever obtained from a single suspect.

“This compound in Abbottabad was an active command and control centre for Al Qaeda’s top leader and it’s clear ... that he was not just a strategic thinker for the group,” the official said. “He was active in operational planning and in driving tactical decisions.”

The official added that Osama’s body had been confirmed in several different ways, including identification by a woman at the compound, facial recognition methods and matching against a DNA profile with a likelihood of error of only 1 in 11.8 quadrillion.

Al Qaeda acknowledged bin Laden’s death on Friday as well, and the official said it was “noteworthy that the group did not announce a new leader, suggesting it is still trying to deal with bin Laden’s demise.”

The official said US intelligence assumed Ayman al Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s No 2 leader, was likely to assume control of the organisation but that he was disliked by some members.

“To some members of Al Qaeda he’s extremely controlling, is a micromanager and is not especially charismatic,” the intelligence official said.

An initial review of the information taken from the compound showed that Osama bin Laden continued to be interested in attacking the United States and “appeared to show continuing interest in transportation and infrastructure targets”, the official added.

“The materials reviewed over the past several days clearly show that bin Laden remained an active leader in Al Qaeda, providing strategic, operational and tactical instructions to the group,” the official said. “He was far from a figurehead. He was an active player, making the recent operation even more essential for our nation’s security.”