Posted on 09/24/2006 2:22:34 AM PDT by MadIvan
PRESIDENT Jacques Chirac ordered an investigation last night into the leaking of a French intelligence report that suggested Osama Bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader, may have died from typhoid in Pakistan last month.
The eight-line document, which was published yesterday in a French provincial newspaper, L’Est Républicain, was greeted with scepticism by security and government officials from the United States to Pakistan itself.
Yet the DGSE, the French secret service, had judged the report significant enough to send it on September 21 to the offices of Chirac and the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin. The report claimed that “a usually trustworthy source“ had persuaded the Saudi secret service Bin Laden was dead.
“The head of Al-Qaeda, while he was in Pakistan on August 23, 2006, reportedly suffered a very strong case of typhoid which led to a partial paralysis of his lower limbs. His geographical isolation, caused by a permanent flight, reportedly made any medical assistance impossible,“ the report said.
Intelligence of Bin Laden’s supposed death apparently reached Saudi security services on September 4. “They are said to be awaiting additional details, and in particular the exact location of his final resting place, to announce the news officially," the report said.
Chirac said after a summit with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, that Bin Laden’s death had not been confirmed in any way. “I was a bit surprised to see a confidential note from the DGSE had been published,” he added. He told his defence minister to find out how it had happened.
Aftab Khan Sherpao, Pakistan’s interior minister, responded to questions about Bin Laden last night by saying: “We have no such information. I have never heard anything about this.”
Intelligence officials in America and Asia insisted they would have known about the report if it had been true, and said no such information had crossed their desks in recent days. One Washington-based official said: “I don’t think this is a piece of information that would remain secret for long — no one would have any interest in keeping it quiet.”
A source with indirect links to Al-Qaeda claimed Bin Laden had been seen alive by one of his commanders earlier this month.
I was just in France yesterday on a business trip - I needed Wellingtons to wade through the bovine excrement.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Smiling...Hose off those Wellingtons.
Actually, they're now ruined and going into the bin.
Regards, Ivan
Gottcha..that's a much better idea.
"Cote d'Azur"
Regards, Ivan
" "Cote d'Azur" "
Can you use words like that on FR???
:)
(We do have *some* standards, after all.....) ;)
Ummm...I think I better look up what I'm saying first, but I do trust you MadIvan. Whatever this means is most likely quite correct.
Regards, Ivan
I will.
Wasn't France subject to a threat from an internal Al Queda cell just a few weeks ago? I thought it was "convenient" that suddenly they "leak" that Osama is dead. An attempt to keep the barbarians at the gate?
"Ah tol' zem zat Osama was dead!"
"Ppp-tthh!"
E-PRISM.org - The Project for the Research of Islamist Movements (PRISM) Herzliya, ISRAEL - Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center - THE PROJECT FOR THE RESEARCH OF ISLAMIST MOVEMENTS (PRISM) OCCASIONAL PAPERS Volume 4 (2006), Number 5 (September 2006) Director: Reuven Paz - All material copyright Reuven Paz unless otherwise stated. Credit if quoting; ask permission to reprint. GLORIA is part of the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, ISRAEL: "QA'IDAT AL-JIHAD: MOVING FORWARD OR BACKWARD? The Algerian GSPC Joins Al-Qaeda" by Reuven Paz
Every time I see "spies say," I figure it's pure hocum. The CIA doesn't seem to be able to get anything right.
One has to suspect disinformation, unless there is hard evidence....
like many DVDs made today, this ping is dual-layer. :')
Saudis refute bin Laden report
Newscom.au | September 24, 2006 | Agence France-Presse
Posted on 09/24/2006 7:29:41 AM EDT by generalhammond
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1707283/posts
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