WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal appeals court is backing the United States government's decision not to release photos and a video taken of Osama bin Laden during and after a raid in which the terrorist leader was killed by US commandos.

The three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington turned down an appeal on Tuesday from Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, which had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the images.

The court said that the Central Intelligence Agency had properly withheld publication of the images.

The court concluded that the photos used to conduct facial recognition analysis of Osama could reveal classified intelligence methods - and that images of Osama's burial at sea could trigger violence against American citizens.