White House releases Obama birth certificate

The White House released President Barack Obama's Hawaii long-form birth certificate Wednesday in an attempt to silence the so-called "birthers" who say he is foreign-born.

"Yes, I was born in Hawaii," Obama said at aWhite House briefing that was carried live by most U.S. TV networks. Heconfirmed that he was, in fact, born in the United States and is therefore constitutionally able to hold the highest office in that country.

The U.S. constitution requires that presidents be "natural-born" Americans.

For years, Obama has been dogged by unfounded rumours fanned by such potential Republican presidential candidates as Donald Trump that he may have been born in Kenya.

"Over the last two and a half years, I have watched with bemusement; I have been puzzled at the degree to which this thing just kept on going," Obamatold reporters as he outlinedthe many documents the White House had previouslyreleasedthat prove his Hawaiian birth.

"We do not have time for this kind of silliness," Obama said, noting the serious problems facing the U.S.

"We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers."

In New Hampshire, Trump said he was "proud" to have played a role in getting Obama to release the document. Buthewasnot quite ready to give the president the benefit of the doubt.

"We have to look at [the document]. We have to see, is it real, is it proper?" he asked. "What's on it? I hope it checks out beautifully."

Rumours of Obama's foreign birth have persisted despite thereleaseby the Obama campaign three years ago of his standard short-form birth certificate. This week, Obamarequested his original birth certificate fromHawaiian officials.

Obama's personallawyer flew to Hawaii to retrieve two certified copies of the document and brought them back to Washington.

Polls have suggested that a significant minority of Americans especiallyRepublican party supporters doubt that Obama was born in the U.S.