Bin Laden Dead?

The major media in the west have reported the rumor.........

Officials can't confirm bin Laden death report

Neither the U.S. nor French officials can confirm a French newspaper report claiming al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden died last month in Pakistan. ...more

.......but nobody seems to be able to confirm so we will have to just wait and see and hope.

Is Bin Laden dead again?

You may recall that he was widely believed to be dead for several years after 9/11. I therefore take this report with reserve. In any case, if he is dead, the jihad will continue. It is not based on the charismatic power of any single leader, but on an ideology.

"Bin Laden believed dead: report," from Reuters, with thanks to all who sent this in:

A newspaper has quoted a French secret service report as saying Saudi Arabia is convinced Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.

The French regional newspaper, L'Est Republicain, has printed what it says is a copy of the report, dated September 21.

It says the report was shown to French President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and France's Interior and Defence 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, stamped with a "confidential defence" label and the initials of the French secret service, says Saudi Arabia first heard the information on September 4 and is waiting for more details before making an official announcement.

And also from Reuters (thanks to Sr. Soph): France orders probe into bin Laden death report leak

Posted by Robert at 06:52 AM | Comments (16) | Email this entry | Print this entry

’m taking this with a mountain of salt, but here’s the report–I can’t find it anywhere else, though.

PARIS (Reuters) - 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.

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.

(Additional reporting by Islamabad bureau)

OK, the Fwench and the Saudis (with additional reporting from Islamabad) are all saying they think he’s dead. I have to wonder: why this “regional paper” in France? Not that I question their credibility, but why information like this would be shared with some “regional” French newspaper is a mystery to me. So basically, I’m not inclined to believe it yet.

Ace takes a much more throrough look at it and lists some reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the story. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.


DAMN I hope it’s true.

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Posted by: Beth @ 5:01 am