Posted on 01/18/2002 9:51:02 AM PST by Interloper
Bin Laden 'may have died from kidney ailment'
Pakistan's president believes Osama bin Laden may have died from a kidney ailment.
General Pervez Musharraf told CNN that bin Laden may have died because he was unable to get treatment during the US bombing campaign.
Musharraf did not indicate whether he had intelligence reports to back up his suspicions. He added that, if bin Laden is still alive, he is still in Afghanistan.
Musharraf said: "I think now, frankly, he is dead for the reason that he is a patient, a kidney patient.
"We know that he donated two dialysis machines into Afghanistan. One was specifically for his own personal use."
Bin Laden last appeared in a video tape broadcast on December 26 by the Arabic language television station Al-Jazeera, during which he praised the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks.
Bin Laden looked pale and gaunt. He occasionally smiled as he spoke and, although clearly thinner than in past tapes, his voice was strong and slightly raspy.
Musharraf added: "I don't know if he has been getting all that treatment in Afghanistan now. And the photographs that have been shown of him on television show him extremely weak."
Last month, Musharraf told Chinese television there was a "great possibility" that bin Laden was dead.
He suggested that bin Laden could have been killed in the US bombing of the Tora-Bora camp in eastern Afghanistan. A search of the area by U.S. special forces turned up no trace of bin Laden.
Story filed: 18:41 Friday 18th January 2002
Right.
However, I still hope he's dead. But there's nothing here to prove that he is or isn't. Mushareff is playing a game of CYA.
Is this a signal code? Are we looking at doubles? Something ain't exactly right here...
So, count him a self-inflicted casualty of his jihad on the post-Medieval world.
Bin Laden - a martyr to his own Islamist stupidity.
No! I thought I was thinking what I thought you were thinking, but I changed my mind now!
I am glad we got that cleared!
"People with kidney failure produce very little urine and depend on the dialysis treatment to balance fluid levels in their bodies. Sometimes, hemodialysis can result in bloating and fluid overload due to too much fluid being retained in the body. Symptoms of fluid retention include swollen ankles, puffy eyes, weight gain, and shortness of breath."
http://www.helioshealth.com/kidney/kf_04_01.html
In the last tape - presumably when he had not been able to have his dialysis - his face was pasty and white.
"Symptoms of kidney failure occur, including loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, an unpleasant taste in the mouth, and possibly the development of intestinal ulcers and bleeding. The skin may be discolored, turning a yellowish-brown or developing a white powdery deposit on the surface from urea crystals (uremic frost)."
Question is, has anyone turned up a dialysis machine in Afghanistan?
"I think so, Brain, but this time, you put the trousers on the chimp."
Whatever works...
Either that or, he must to have a poor habit of dying in a variety of ways!!
Without a body and DNA confirmation, all of this is just a lot of loose talk.
Excerpts from
From 'Le Figaro' [1 November 2001] Translated by Tiphaine Dickson ===========================
By Alexandra Richard (Page 2, October 31st, 2001)
Having taken off from the Quetta airport in Pakistan, bin Laden was transferred to the hospital upon his arrival at Dubai airport. He was accompanied by his personal physician and faithful lieutenant, who could be Ayman al-Zawahari--but on this sources are not entirely certain--, four bodyguards, as well as a male Algerian nurse, and admitted to the American Hospital, a glass and marble building situated between the Al-Garhoud and Al-Maktoum bridges.
Each floor of the hospital has two "VIP" suites and fifteen rooms. The Saudi billionnaire was admitted to the well-respected urology department run by Teerry Callaway, gallstone and infertility specialist. Dr Callaway declined to respond to our questions despite several phone calls.
As early as March, 2000, 'Asia Week,' published in Hong Kong, expressed concern for bin Laden's health, describing a serious medical problem that could put his life in danger because of "a kidney infection that is propagating itself to the liver and requires specialized treatment". According to authorized sources, bin Laden had mobile dialysis equipment shipped to his hideout in Kandahar in the first part of 2000. According to our sources, bin Laden's "travels for health reasons" have taken place before. Between 1996 and 1998, bin Laden made several trips to Dubai on business.
This guy will only die when they drive a stake through his heart.
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