Battle to rush out films on hunt for Osama bin Laden

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A film dramatising the death of Osama bin Laden is set to debut next month on the National Geographic Channel, two days before the US presidential election.

"Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden," from The Weinstein Co. and Voltage Pictures, will air on Sunday, Nov 4.

Weinstein co-chairman Harvey Weinstein is a prominent fund-raiser for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, which has touted Osama's death as an example of the president's leadership.

National Geographic Channel President Howard Owens said on Thursday the channel was "not political". But it did take into account Weinstein's desire to get out ahead of a competitive movie about the US Navy SEALs' hunt for the Al-Qaeda leader, "Zero Dark Thirty," from director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, who won Oscars for "The Hurt Locker". It is scheduled to be released in theatres at the end of the year.