Posted on 09/23/2006 12:33:17 PM PDT by Silicon Cowboy
PARIS, France (CNN) -- Osama bin Laden has a water-borne illness, a Saudi intelligence source told CNN on Saturday, a report that conflicts with an article in a French newspaper saying that the al Qaeda leader is dead.
The Saudi intelligence source told CNN's Nic Robertson that there have been credible reports for the past several weeks that bin Laden is ill, but there has been no word of his death.
The questions came in response to the publication of a report in the French regional newspaper L'Est Republicain on Saturday. (Watch CNN's Nic Robertson reveal the latest intelligence on bin Laden's health -- 1:54)
The article cited a confidential French foreign intelligence document dated September 21 in which a source said the Saudis had received confirmation that bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan on August 23.
French President Jacques Chirac said on Saturday he would investigate the leak of the confidential documents, adding that the information in the documents has not been confirmed.
"I was rather surprised to see that a confidential note from the DGSE [General Directorate for External Security] was published and I have asked the minister of defense to start an investigation immediately and to reach whatever conclusions are necessary," Chirac said after meetings on trade with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Compiegne, France.
"Secondly, speaking of the source of the information itself, this information is in no way confirmed."
CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen said he was told bin Laden's immediate family had had no reports that the al Qaeda leader was dead.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Bin Laden dead?
The people at Crescent News Network will be sooooo heartbroken about their hero.
we poisoned the bastard. ROVE................you have an election to fix!!!!!!! Now get back over here.
STILL dead.
OBL confirmed dead would set off a tremendous firestorm in the US among the Left. OBL IS DEAD THE WAR IS OVER WE WON BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW! It is better that he is not publicly dead, however dead he may be in private.
I am not convinced that the CIA actually confirmed any of those tapes. CIA said that each was "probably" authentic then seems to have responded to further queries with the equivalent of "hmmmmm..." Politically we don't need him to be dead.The libs(including MSM) would "rejoice" that with him dead the war is over.
Actually, Kathleen Blank-0 knows exactly where UBL is. He's buried in some house in the 9th Ward. THAT'S why Bush and Rove blew up the levee's in New Orleans!!! /sar ;^)
Hmmm...They can't cover their own smell, they can't cover the stink of Al Qaeda propaganda either.
A good sense of humor is a priceless. Thanks.
Lotsa strange dots turning up. Maybe Usama died eating Veal French.
Inigo: Hoo hoo hoo! Look who knows so much, heh? Well, it just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Please, open his mouth. Puts the bellows to Westley's mouth, and blows air in. Now, mostly dead is slightly alive. Now, all dead... well, with all dead, there's usually only one thing that you can do.
"i think he has been dead since tora bora, but that's just me."
I do too.
Maybe 'e's just resting...
Pining for the dunes.
Go through his clothes and look for loose change.
"He's dead, Jim. You get his wallet, and I get his Triquarter."
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