Grain Of Salt

Reuters has a report that a French newspaper has announced unconfirmed reports that Osama bin Laden has died. It's a sort of "I know a guy who knows a guy who heard" type of report and nobody else is reporting this, so don't go breaking out the bubbly.

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 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, which was stamped with a "confidential defence" 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."

I'm not getting my hopes up. This is still raging speculation even if the report the paper has is genuine.

UPDATE: Plancke's Constant will be saddened if the news is true. After all, what will he do with all those goat jokes. Don't worry, Bernie, goat jokes are endlessly recyclable.

UPDATE: See also All Things Beautiful and bRight And Early. For a description of thyphoid fever see here. It would be a very cruel way to die. I find it hard to feel any sympathy whatsoever.

categories World news | Gaius September 23, 2006

  • By AllenS, September 23, 2006 @ 6:31 am

    If a scumbag dies in a cave, does it make a sound?

  • By Neo, September 23, 2006 @ 9:34 am

    Are holy warriors allowed to die of Typhoid ?

    I guess it depends if the bacteria are Chursaders or Holy Warriors.

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