Bin Laden: Dead?

[misterbrownstone]

PARIS - A leaked French intelligence document raises the possibility Osama bin Laden died of typhoid, but President Jacques Chirac said Saturday the report was "in no way whatsoever confirmed" and officials from Kabul to Washington expressed skepticism about its accuracy.

There have been numerous reports over the years that bin Laden had been killed or that he was dangerously ill, but the al-Qaida leader has periodically released audiotapes appealing to followers and commenting on current news events.

The regional French newspaper l'Est Republicain printed what it described as a copy of a confidential document from the DGSE intelligence service citing an uncorroborated report from a "usually reliable source" who said Saudi secret services were convinced that bin Laden had died.

The document, dated Thursday, was sent to Chirac and other top French officials, the newspaper said.

"This information is in no way whatsoever confirmed," Chirac said when asked about the document. "I have no comment."

Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry offered no details. "I've heard the reports, but I have no information at all. I have no idea," spokesman Mansour al-Turki told The Associated Press.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she had "no comment and no knowledge" about the report, while presidential spokesman Blair Jones said the White House could not confirm the report's accuracy. But two U.S. intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said U.S. agencies had no information to suggest bin Laden was dead or dying.

A senior official in Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry said he was very skeptical of the document, noting past false reports of the death of bin Laden. He declined to let his name be used because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tasnim Aslam, called the information "speculative," saying his government had no information on bin Laden.

Many people suspect bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders are hiding in the Pakistani mountains along the border with Afghanistan.

Among previous reports, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said during the U.S.-led offensive that toppled Afghanistan's Taliban regime in late 2001 that he was "reasonably sure" bin Laden had been killed by U.S. bombing raids on the Tora Bora caves.

Bin Laden also was rumored to have kidney problems, but a physician detained by Pakistan on suspicion he was treating top Taliban and al-Qaida militants told AP in December 2002 that the al-Qaida leader was in excellent health when the physician saw him a year earlier.

The Washington-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications, said it was not aware of reports on the Internet speculating about bin Laden and a life-threatening illness.

"We've seen nothing from any al-Qaida messaging or other indicators that would point to the death of Osama bin Laden," IntelCenter director Ben N. Venzke told AP.

Al-Qaida would likely release information of bin Laden's death fairly quickly if it were true, said Venzke, whose organization also provides counterterrorism intelligence services for the U.S. government.

"They would want to release that to sort of control the way that it unfolds. If they wait too long, they could lose the initiative on it," he said.

IntelCenter said the last time it could be sure bin Laden was alive was June 29, when al-Qaida released an audiotaped eulogy for al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a U.S. air strike in Iraq earlier that month.

Chirac spoke at a news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Compiegne, France, where the leaders were meeting.

Putin suggested leaks can be ways to manipulate. "When there are leaks ... one can say that (they) were done especially," he said.

Chirac said he was "a bit surprised" at the leak and had asked Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie to investigate how the document was published.

The document from DGSE, or Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure, indicated the information came from a single source.

"The chief of al-Qaida was a victim of a severe typhoid crisis while in Pakistan on August 23, 2006," the document said. His geographic isolation meant medical assistance was impossible, the French report said, adding that his lower limbs were allegedly paralyzed.

According to the document, Saudi security services were pursuing further details, notably the place of bin Laden's burial.

When asked about the report during an appearance in Montreal, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that if proven true, it would be "good news" for the entire world.
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that's good.

[RKD]

For Once i want the French to be right..... For once lol

[ycagwyw]

Jacques Chirac has clarified the event, it's not real. I just saw the TV news

[Rock Diva]

Jah rastah brutha, may the free world of tampons live on

[stinson4ever]

A little of topic, but have u guys heard that news where bin Laden said he was going to kill bobby brown so he could be with whitney houstan. They were making fun of whitney saying she drew bad guys.  it was on cnn or something

[Blainebailey]

i dont Really Care much about him Anymore

[Duffer]

Even though he killed thousands of people, ruined people's lives and was never caught?




I actually want him to be caught, put in a cage, and paraded around cities while people throw tomatoes at him.

[marktheshark]

I don't believe it...

[RKD]

Even though he killed thousands of people, ruined people's lives and was never caught?




I actually want him to be caught, put in a cage, and paraded around cities while people throw tomatoes at him.

somehow i doubt Tomatoes would be the thing thrown by most people. Piss Bottles, Rocks, flaming bags of shit. i know i wouldn't throw tomatoes, he needs to suffer not be embarrased. plus someone would probably come up with "All the tomatoes thrown at Bin Laden could've fed a third world country for a day" lets face it everything that anyone does today offends someone.

[aintitfun22]

bin laden should be tied to a building and be pissed on by all of the 9/11 victims families














im serious

[Slashist]

he's still alive for sure.  it'll only be a matter of time before he realses a new video

he has lots of expierience, maybe he can help axl get a video out

[sunnyp]

He is of no real consequence any more. His ideology and message has spread to others, and has created a supposedly organised military power. Finding him would be a strain on an already stressed US army. Trophy kills are for bounty hunters and renegades.

The US are making an effort to hunt his deputies because they represent more of a problem to the current mission.

[RKD]

Trophy kills are for bounty hunters and renegades.

wheres Boba Fett when ya need him.... what do you mean Star Wars wasn't real  :crybaby:

[sunnyp]

wheres Boba Fett when ya need him.... what do you mean Star Wars wasn't real  :crybaby:

Not yet bro