Osama bin Laden's son asked US for his father's death certificate

In response, the embassy wrote to Abdallah to inform him that there was no death certificate issued for the older bin Laden.

The letter went on to suggest other ways that the al-Qaida leader's death could be officially confirmed.

The remarkable exchange has come to light thanks to the latest release from WikiLeaks, the controversial secret sharing organization helmed by Julian Assange. On Friday, the organization released more than a half-million cables and other documents purportedly from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, which it dubbed "The Saudi Cables."

The U.S. Embassy's response to Abdallah was included within the release. It is dated Sept. 9, 2011, approximately four months after bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces during a raid on his hideout in Pakistan. U.S. officials have said that bin Laden was later buried at sea. Requests to publish photographs of bin Laden's body or his burial have been denied and any photographs taken are suspected to have been destroyed.

In the letter to Abdallah bin Laden, Glen Keiser, a consul general at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, explains that the lack of a death certificate for bin Laden is "consistent with regular practice for individuals killed in the course of military operations."

Keiser goes on to suggest that the criminal case against Osama bin Laden had effectively been dropped due to his death since June 2011, and describes a process for requesting the order of "nolle prosequi" (which literally means "unwilling to pursue") from the court, which could act as proof of death.

It's unclear why Abdallah bin Laden had requested the death certificate.