UPDATE
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 U.S. embassy said it had no evidence to support
reports that Osama bin Laden is dead. "Information that has been
reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be
independently verified," the embassy said in a statement on its Web
site.
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.
One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the report came from an
unverified, unconfirmed source. If bin Laden were dead or dying,
U.S. officials would expect to see telltale indicators that they
are not seeing, the official said. The official did not explain
what those indicators are, but such an event would probably trigger
increased discussion among known extremists.
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 would not let his name be used because he
was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. Mahmud Ali Durrani told The
Associated Press in an interview "everyone is speculating" about
bin Laden.
"I think it would be very nice if we can confirm that he's dead,"
he said. "I don't think there's much truth to that," Durrani added.
"If he were in Pakistan and we had firm intelligence, I can tell
you with total certainty that we'd get him."
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. - AP
