French paper says bin Laden died in Pakistan
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-09-23 16:40
PARIS - A French regional newspaper quoted a French secret service report on
Saturday as saying that Saudi Arabia is convinced that al Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.
An image taken from an
internet posting by al Qaeda's media arm, al Sahab on September 11, 2006,
shows Osama bin Laden speaking in an unknown location.
[Reuters] | L'Est Republicain printed what it said
was a copy of the report dated September 21 and said it was shown to President
Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and France's interior and
defense ministers on the same day.
"According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi services are now convinced
that Osama bin Laden is dead," the document said.
"The information gathered by the Saudis indicates that the head of al Qaeda
was a victim while he was in Pakistan on August 23, 2006, of a very serious case
of typhoid which led to a partial paralysis of his internal organs."
The report, which was stamped with a "confidential defense" label and the
initials of the French secret service, said Saudi Arabia first heard the
information on September 4 and that it was waiting for more details before
making an official announcement.
Officials contacted by Reuters in Chirac's and Villepin's offices had no
immediate comment.
A senior official in Pakistan's interior ministry said: "We have no
information about Osama's death."
Saudi-born Bin Laden was based in Afghanistan until the Taliban government
there was overthrown by U.S.-backed forces in late 2001. Since then, U.S. and
Pakistani officials have regularly said they believe he is hiding somewhere on
the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The last videotaped message released by bin Laden was in late 2004, but there
have been several low quality audio tapes released this year.
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