President Obama will ask Congress to extend Robert Mueller's term as FBI director two more years -- to expire in September 2013.

They say it's a combination of factors -- no real standout choice for successor and a desire to avoid a partisan battle over his successor with an election looming.

"In his ten years at the FBI, Bob Mueller has set the gold standard for leading the Bureau," the president said in a statement released by the White House today. "Given the ongoing threats facing the United States, as well as the leadership transitions at other agencies like the Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency, I believe continuity and stability at the FBI is critical at this time."

Here's the White House's full release:

President Obama Proposes Extending Term for FBI Director Robert Mueller

Today, President Obama announced he is seeking a two-year extension for the 10-year term of FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III which expires on September 4, 2011.

President Obama said, “In his ten years at the FBI, Bob Mueller has set the gold standard for leading the Bureau. Given the ongoing threats facing the United States, as well as the leadership transitions at other agencies like the Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency, I believe continuity and stability at the FBI is critical at this time. Bob transformed the FBI after September 11, 2001 into a pre-eminent counterterrorism agency, he has shown extraordinary leadership and effectiveness at protecting our country every day since. He has impeccable law enforcement and national security credentials, a relentless commitment to the rule of law, unquestionable integrity and independence, and a steady hand that has guided the Bureau as it confronts our most serious threats.  I am grateful for his leadership, and ask Democrats and Republicans in Congress to join together in extending that leadership for the sake of our nation’s safety and security.”

Robert Mueller was originally nominated by President George W. Bush as FBI Director on July 5, 2001 and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on August 2, 2001.  Mueller also served as Acting Deputy Attorney General, and was sworn in as FBI director on September 4, 2001.  Since that time, Mueller has led a transformation of the Bureau from a pre- 9-11 law enforcement agency, to an agency whose primary mission is national security.  President Obama is the fourth President to ask Mueller to serve in a Senate-confirmed position. 

Mueller is the sixth person to have served as FBI director. At the time of his 2001 appointment, Mueller was serving as the United States Attorney in San Francisco, the culmination of 12 years in United States Attorney’s Offices where he investigated and prosecuted major financial fraud, terrorist, and public corruption cases, as well as narcotics conspiracies and international money launderers. Mueller served as an officer for three years in the United States Marine Corps, leading a rifle platoon of the Third Marine Division in Vietnam. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals, the Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Mueller graduated from Princeton University, earned a master’s degree in International Relations at New York University, and a law degree from the University Of Virginia Law School.

President Obama visited several landmark sites related to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City before he participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at Ground Zero.

The president was accompanied by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at his first stop, the "Pride of Midtown" firehouse, which, according to the White House, lost 15 men on 9/11 -- more than any other New York firehouse.

In his remarks, the president did not mention the killing of Osama bin Laden directly, but told the assembled firefighters, "What happened on Sunday" sent a message around the world that "when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."

He seemed to try to discourage any perception that he was scoring political points over the mission, saying, "Our commitment to making sure that justice is done is something that transcended politics, transcended party; it didn’t matter which administration was in; it didn’t matter who was in charge; we were going to make sure that the perpetrators of that horrible act -- that they received justice."

The president made similar remarks when he visited a second off-schedule location, the First Precinct Police Station in Lower Manhattan, which was the first precinct to respond to the 9/11 attack.

The president said that the bin Laden killing, which he again referred to as, "What we did on Sunday," is connected to what the police officers in New York City and around the world do every day -- acts of bravery, without a lot of fanfare, to keeping Americans safe.

After the stop at the precinct, President Obama continued on to Memorial Plaza at the September 11th Memorial and Museum, where he placed a wreath at the Survivor Tree, which has its own lore, according to the White House. It was originally planted at the World Trade Center in the 1970s and sustained significant damage during the attack. It was recovered from rubble and brought to a nursery. When it was admitted to the nursery in November 2001, the tree stood eight-feet high. Now, back at the Memorial site, it is 30-feet tall.

The president also visited with families of 9/11 victims at a private stop after the wreath-laying.

The president has decided not to release photographs of Osama bin Laden's body, according to a senior White House official.

*** UPDATE *** Here is what President Obama told Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes" about his decision. The interview will air on Sunday.

"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," he said. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

"Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet," he continued. "Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaeda has been eliminated."

*** CORRECTION *** Those quotes above are from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, not President Obama. (It's unclear why CBS decided not to release quotes from the president in its story about the news.)

Here is what Obama told "60 Minutes," per White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: "We've done DNA sampling and testing. There is no doubt we killed Osama bin Laden." Obama went on to say that releasing the photos could incite violence and run contray to America's values. "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies... We don't need to spike the football." 

*** UPDATE 2 *** NBC's Athena Jones reports:

At the top of the briefing this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney shared the exchange President Obama had with 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft in his interview today during which he explained his rationale for not releasing photos of bin Laden's body.

Obama said he had seen the photos and they proved, along with facial analysis and DNA evidence, that the US team had killed bin Laden.

KEY OBAMA QUOTE TO KROFT:

"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool. That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff as trophies. The fact of the matter is this was somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received and I think Americans and people around the world are glad he is gone, but we don't need to spike the football. And I think that given the graphic natures of these photos, it would create some national security risk and I've discussed this with Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton and my intelligence teams and they all agree."

In the interview scheduled to air on Sunday, the president said officials were monitoring worldwide reaction to news of the mission and that there was no doubt bin Laden was dead.

Obama told Kroft:

"Certainly there is doubt- no doubt among Al Qaeda members that he is dead. And so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden waling on this earth again."

Ayman al Zawahiri is by no means a shoo-in as al Qaeda's next leader. He is not liked by many in the organization, and he faces competition from at least two others, one of them an American, a senior U.S. official tells NBC News.

In addition to having a face for radio, and not at all charismatic, he is not nearly as popular as bin Laden internally. He has a reputation as being arrogant," said the official. "We could see Anwar al-Awlaki move in, or Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani militant.

Al-Awlaki, 40, is the New Mexico-born American leader of al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, who had contact with both Abdul Muttallab, the underwear bomber, and Col. Nidal Hassan, who killed 15 people at Ft. Hood two years ago...as well as two of the 9-11 bombers while preaching in San Diego. Al Awlaki is viewed as the most charismatic official in al Qaeda today and regularly used social media, including Facebook and a blog, to recruit members to the cause.   

Less well known is Ilyas Kashmiri, 46, who is a leader in the Pakistani terrorist organization Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, which is closely tied to Al-Qaeda. Kashmiri rebuilt its strength while collaborating with the Taliban. He is under indictment in the US for his role in the planned attacks on the Danish cartoonist who drew the Prophet Mohammed.

"They have a lot to sort out, said the official and it will be difficult for them to convene a meeting," said the official.

Computers could reveal al Qaeda money men
A senior U.S. official also says the initial exploitation of the computers and other digital devices retrieved from the bin Laden compound have proven that the materials "contain very valuable information."

The official, asked if there was donor information on the computers, hard drives, etc., would not deny it adding it was "entirely possible." The U.S. has long sought lists of donors to the al Qaeda cause, those private individuals in the Gulf states who have financed operations.

The strike team at Abbottabad retrieved 10 hard drives, five computers and more than 100 storage devices: disks, DVDs, and thumb drives, a U.S. intelligence official said.

In addition, the team retrieved written material, not further described, but in the past, U.S. forces have retrieved notebooks and address books that were helpful in locating other terrorists. The U.S. intelligence community is willingly releasing this materal, hoping that those who believe their names and personal data are on those devices will go to ground, thus reducing even further the terrorist threat.

U.S. officials did not initally have information on how much if any of the material was encrypted, or to what level. One official speculated that since the compound had no Internet access there was limited need for encryption.

Two U.S. officials tell NBC News say that public affairs specialists at agencies involved in Sunday's raid had discussed what to do with "death photos" of bin Laden in meetings over the past several months -- that it was part of the planning for the raids.

Neither official disclosed what the outcome of the discussions was but noted that everyone knew the ultimate decision would rest with the White House. The same official said he did not expect a decision today, but said it would not surprise him that much.

NBC's Michael Isikoff's piece on msnbc.com on whether "enhanced interrogations techniques," a.k.a. torture, led to the finding of Osama bin Laden provides good context and details. Excerpts below.

VIDEO: Did enhanced interrogation find bin Laden?

Here are some excerpts:

The behind-the-scenes story of how bin Laden was finally located is yet to be fully told, but emerging details seem likely to reignite the debate over whether “enhanced interrogation” techniques and other aggressive methods that have been widely criticized by human rights groups provided useful – or timely -- intelligence about al-Qaida. While some current and former U.S. officials credited those interrogations Monday with producing the big break in the case, others countered that they failed to produce what turned out to be the most crucial piece of intelligence of all: the identity and whereabouts of the most important figure in bin Laden courier's network. ...

While Liz Cheney and other conservatives on Monday tried to portray the bin Laden raid as vindication of the intelligence community’s tough interrogations of “high-value” detainees, other details suggest that the most aggressive “enhanced interrogation” techniques -- including waterboarding, against other detainees, particularly 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed -- proved useless in learning the identity of the bin Laden courier. ...

“They waterboarded KSM (Khaled Sheikh Mohammed) 183 times and he still didn’t give the guy up,” said one former U.S. counterterrorism official who asked not to be identified. “Come on. And you want to tell me that enhanced interrogation techniques worked?" ...

In the end, U.S. officials say, it took years of patient intelligence work -- including information gleaned from multiple detainees and other sources of intelligence -- to enable the CIA to figure out who the courier was.

“Four years ago, we uncovered his identify,” said a senior U.S. official. Two years later, the U.S. officials were able to trace the courier and his brother to the area in Pakistan where they finally found bin Laden.

From NBC's Courtney Kube
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just came to the Treaty Room to praise the courageous men and women who have toiled for years to track down Osama bin Laden, to remember the victims of bin Laden's and Al Qaeda's violence, and to warn that the fight against al Qaeda does not end with this death.

"Even as we mark this milestone, we should not forget that the battle to stop Al Qaeda and its syndicate of terror will not end with the death of bin Laden," Clinton said.

Clinton offered an ominous warning to those members of al Qaeda still hiding out, but also offered them an olive branch. "You cannot wait us out; you cannot defeat us," she said, but added, "but you can make the choice to abandon Al Qaeda and participate in a peaceful political process."

Despite the fact the U.S. did not tell the Pakistanis about this operation until it was complete, Clinton said that the close cooperation with Pakistan has put "unprecedented pressure" on al Qaeda and its leadership, and that "continued cooperation will be just as important in the days ahead."

NBC's David Gregory reports that President Obama will announce tonight that Osama bin Laden has been killed.

*** UPDATE *** This is the result of a U.S. action in Pakistan, killed by U.S. personnel, and that the United States has bin Laden's body. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports, it was not a drone strike that killed bin Laden, it was "recent" Special Ops operation in Pakistan. 

*** UPDATE 2 *** This is, by the way, the eighth anniversary of President Bush's 2003 speech on an aircraft carrier with the banner, "Mission Accomplished" behind him.

*** UPDATE 3 *** NBC's Shawna Thomas reports: CIA Director Leon Panetta called ranking Member of the Intel Committee Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). Chairman of the House Intel Commitee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-CA) is on a red-eye flight back to DC.

*** UPDATE 4 *** NBC's Mike Viqueira reports that the president called House Speaker Boehner personally to inform him. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports that Boehner says he will hold all comment until after the president speaks.

*** UPDATE 5 *** NBC's Athena Jones reports that a crowd has begun to gather in front of the White House. There are about 50 people out there and it seems to be growing. They're shouting and rejoicing and just finished singing the Star Spangled Banner. They erupted in applause afterwards. They're now chanting U-S-A. They had begun to sing, "We Are the Champions" and more people were running up. There is at least one police car parked next to the group.

*** UPDATE 6 *** WNBC's Jonathan Dienst reports that the New York Police Department will be ramping up security measures across the city as a precaution given the news Bin Laden has been killed, according to Paul Browne, an NYPD spokesman.

From NBC's Pete Williams
Experts on the military justice system agree that President Obama was unwise to make a comment last week about Army Private Bradley Manning, accused of giving classified US government documents to Wikileaks. But they disagree about whether the statement will undermine the military's prosecution of Manning.

After a fundraising event in San Francisco last Thursday, the president was approached about the Manning case, an encounter recorded on cellphone video and uploaded to the Internet. After explaining that federal law prohibits the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents, Mr. Obama said, "He broke the law."

Presidents and other senior officials often make statements about the guilt of defendants who are awaiting trial before a jury. What's different about this case, however, is that President Obama is the commander-in-chief of the military, and Manning will be tried before a military court.

Rules for courts martial ban the exertion of "undue command influence." Many supporters of Pvt. Manning have argued that his trial is now tainted because the president, the nation's most senior commander, has pronounced judgment that Manning is guilty. 

In an op-ed appearing in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times, a former military prosecutor says many critics of the court-martial system often believe that military jurors simply ask themselves one question, referring to their commanders: what does the Old Man want us to do?

"When the jurors retire to the deliberation room at the Manning court martial, they will not have to speculate on the answer; arguably the most important 'Old Man' of them all has spoken, and he said Manning is guilty," writes Morris Davis, a retired Air Force officer and former prosecutor at Guantanamo.

The president should have been more circumspect, agrees Eugene Fidell, an expert on the military justice system. But he believes Obama's comment will not affect the outcome of Manning's trial.

"It will generate motions by the defense and will require some care in selecting the military members of the jury, a process already complicated by the extensive press coverage of this case," Fidell said. "It was going to have to be a very careful questioning process for potential jurors, to ask if they have seen reports or read about the case. Now they'll also have to be asked whether they heard the president's comment and if that would make any difference to them. But that will be the extent of it, and they'll get on with the trial."

From NBC's Courtney Kube
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton renewed the United States' call for Khaddafy to step down and to leave Libya.

Clinton said the U.S. believes "there needs to be a transition that reflects the will of the Libyan people and the departure of Khaddafy from power and from Libya."

Speaking after a meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, Clinton said the U.S. has "made it very clear that we want to see a ceasefire; we want to see the Libyan regime forces pull back from the areas they have forcibly entered; we want to see resumption of water and electricity and other services to cities that have been brutalized by the Khaddafy forces; we want to see humanitarian assistance reach the people of Libya. These terms are non-negotiable."

Asked about a possible deal in Libya brokered by the African Union, Clinton said that she is still "waiting to get a full read out from the various participants," and that "we'll wait to get the full briefing as to what the African Union delegation determined."

Foreign Minister Stubb said he thinks the European Union should be involved in the future of Libya, especially with respect to the political dialogue. "There is going to be life after Khaddafy," he said, "and the European Union should prepare for that."

AP

Libyan rebels are seen with a rocket launcher as they leave Ras Lanouf, Libya, Wednesday. Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces recaptured a strategic oil town Wednesday and were close to taking a second, making new inroads in beating back a rebel advance toward the capital Tripoli.

From NBC's Courtney Kube
A senior European diplomat says that the coalition of nations involved in the operations in Libya are now considering arming the opposition forces.

The diplomat said that providing arms to opposition forces in Libya "has to be a serious option" and that the coalition is considering that option "now."

The diplomat warned that the coalition cannot provide arms "with closed eyes," that there has to be both coordination and training of the opposition.

"Yes, we have to be ready to continue," with enforcement of the no fly zone, protecting civilians, and the arms embargo for weeks or months, the diplomat said, but added that the coalition is "going to tip the balance" in the near future.

How? By continuing or stepping up military air strikes and possibly arming the opposition, the diplomat said.

Asked who would supply the arms, the diplomat would only say that there would be a "collective agreement" among various nations and then individual countries would supply what they could. The diplomat would not say who would provide the training, or if that would involve military forces on the ground.

Despite the fact that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said only yesterday that the U.S. is still getting to know the opposition, the diplomat today defended them, saying that the Transitional National Council is "composed of serious people who really are committed" to a democratic transition and a united Libya.

The diplomat denied that al Qaeda has much of an influence over the opposition forces in Libya, saying that his belief is the extremist element is not a major player.

The official could not point to specific arms or equipment that the coalition may provide, or how much more the coalition could do in the future, saying only that it is not for the international community to do the job for the opposition, but rather to "encourage them to be better organized."