Saudis: No Ding Dong Moment

The Saudis are now categorically denying that there is any truth to the reports that Osama has has kicked the bucket. They say they have no evidence he is dead and that all press reports are completely speculative.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no evidence to support recent media reports that Osama bin Laden is dead," the Saudi Embassy here said in a statement. "Information that has been reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be independently verified."

Earlier Saturday, a French regional newspaper, L'Est Republicain, published a report based on a French foreign intelligence service document, which alleged that Saudi intelligence service had concluded the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States had succumbed to typhoid fever — sometime between August 23 and September 4 — while hiding in Pakistan.

French President Jacques Chirac as well as US, Pakistani and Afghan officials sought to distance themselves from the account, saying that it could not be confirmed.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, when asked before meeting in New York with Sri Lanka's foreign minister whether she gave the report any credibility, said only: "No comment, and no knowledge."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the report would be welcome if it turns out to be true.

"It would be a good news, but it's just speculation," Karzai told Radio-Canada television during a visit in Montreal. "Let's see if it's true or not true."

Pakistan's interior minister, Aftab Sherpao, told AFP in Islamabad: "No, we do not have any such information with us."

Like I said earlier today, I wouldn't be breaking out the bubbly on the kind of reports that started this whole frenzy. So the wicked witch is not yet confirmed dead. Sorry folks.

Other Links to this Post

1. The Bethie Bee » Blog Archive » Could Osama Bin Laden Be Dead? — Saturday, 23 September , 2006 @ 10:25 pm