Doubts over 'bin Laden dead' claim

World governments are playing down a leaked French intelligence document that raises the possibility Osama bin Laden died of typhoid.

President Jacques Chirac said the report was “in no way whatsoever confirmed” and officials from Kabul to Washington expressed scepticism 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 a copy of a confidential document from the DGSE intelligence service yesterday, 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.

US 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 US intelligence officials, who spoke anonymously, said US agencies had no information to suggest bin Laden was dead or dying.

A senior official in Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said he was very sceptical about the document, noting past false reports of the death of bin Laden.

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.

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

Chirac said yesterday he was “a bit surprised” at the leak and had asked defence 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 paralysed.

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, Canada, Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai said that if proven true, it would be “good news” for the entire world.