Four years after the bin Laden raid, in which the former al-Qaeda leader was killed, the United States has declassified a cache of material seized by special forces from the terrorist's Abbottabad hideout.

In a release titled "Bin Laden's Bookshelf", the Office of the Director of National Intelligence revealed bin Laden's remarkable and eclectic book collection on Wednesday.

Not released for public perusal, however, was a rather notorious porn stash found at the compound.

The office of James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, said the pornographic material could not be made public, on grounds of taste. It was the first confirmation of previous reports that bin Laden's X-rated stash included "modern, electronically recorded video".

Bin Laden's library included Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance and Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies, as well as Obama's Wars by Bob Woodward.

The Handbook of International Law by Anthony Aust was also among bin Laden's reading material, as was the Oxford History of Modern War by Charles Townsend and The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Paul Kennedy.

He owned a copy of Imperial Hubris by Michael Scheuer, the former CIA official who once ran the intelligence organisation's bin Laden desk.

He also had dozens of publicly available US government documents, including The 9/11 Commission Report.

Yet, bin Laden also owned the works of conspiracy theorists, including Fritz Springmeier, David Ray Griffin and Holocaust denier Eustace Mullins.

He also kept scanned copies of Arabic and English newspapers with articles on al-Qaeda, including one from the Los Angeles Times titled, "Is Al-Qaida Just Bush's Boogeyman?"

Not all material found at the compound will be released by the US government, namely the terrorist's porn stash.

"We have no plans to release that at this point in time," Brian Hale, a government spokesman said. "Due to the nature of the content the decision was made not to release it."

Reports that pornographic material was found in the compound were first published by the news agency Reuters on May 13, 2011, just weeks after the US Navy SEAL raid on the site left the al-Qaeda leader dead. Unnamed officials told Reuters the pornography was "modern" and the collection "extensive". Officials said it was unclear how it came to be in the hideout, which had no internet connection.

Reuters also reported that the officials were unsure about where in the compound the material was found or who might have been viewing it.

US officials have said 22 people had been living in the compound, including adult males.

The items collected by US special forces also included some material most likely used by the other residents, according to the intelligence office. There was a guide to healthy eating for wrestlers, titled, "The Grappler's Guide to Sports Nutrition", as well as a book of silk-screening instructions.

Also found was a written guide to playing Delta Force: Xtreme 2, the multiplayer video game that depicts military combat scenarios.

The timing of the release has given the US government a chance to indirectly rebuff an article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who claims the Obama administration has lied about the bin Laden raid.

In his article for The London Review of Books, Hersh says the raid was staged in co-operation with Pakistan, which had been holding bin Laden imprisoned in his compound.

Much of what came out of the compound remains classified, but the latest release of material brings to 103 the total number of documents from the raid that are now publicly available.

Bin Laden's reading list 

The 2030 Spike by Colin Mason

A Brief Guide to Understanding Islam by I. A. Ibrahim

America's Strategic Blunders by Willard Matthias

America's "War on Terrorism" by Michel Chossudovsky

Al-Qaeda's Online Media Strategies: From Abu Reuter to Irhabi 007 by Hanna Rogan

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast

The Best Enemy Money Can Buy by Anthony Sutton

Black Box Voting, Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century by Bev Harris

Bloodlines of the Illuminati by Fritz Springmeier

Bounding the Global War on Terror by Jeffrey Record

Checking Iran's Nuclear Ambitions by Henry Sokolski and Patrick Clawson

Christianity and Islam in Spain 756-1031 A.D. by C. R. Haines

Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies by Cheryl Benard

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins

Conspirators' Hierarchy: The Committee of 300 by John Coleman

Crossing the Rubicon by Michael Ruppert

Fortifying Pakistan: The Role of U.S. Internal Security Assistance (only the book's introduction) by C. Christine Fair and Peter Chalk

Guerilla Air Defense: Antiaircraft Weapons and Techniques for Guerilla Forces by James Crabtree

Handbook of International Law by Anthony Aust

Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance by Noam Chomsky

Imperial Hubris by Michael Scheuer

In Pursuit of Allah's Pleasure by Asim Abdul Maajid, Esaam-ud-Deen and Dr Naahah Ibrahim

International Relations Theory and the Asia-Pacific by John Ikenberry and Michael Mastandano

Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions since World War II by William Blum

Military Intelligence Blunders by John Hughes-Wilson

Project MKULTRA, the CIA's program of research in behavioral modification. Joint hearing before the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, August 3, 1977. United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Intelligence.

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies by Noam Chomsky

New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11 by David Ray Griffin

New Political Religions, or Analysis of Modern Terrorism by Barry Cooper

Obama's Wars by Bob Woodward

Oxford History of Modern War by Charles Townsend

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy

Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum

The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly Hall (1928)

Secrets of the Federal Reserve by Eustace Mullins

The Taking of America 1-2-3 by Richard Sprague

Unfinished Business, U.S. Overseas Military Presence in the 21st Century by Michael O'Hanlon

The U.S. and Vietnam 1787-1941 by Robert Hopkins Miller

"Website Claims Steve Jackson Games Foretold 9/11," article posted on ICV2.com

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