Is Osama Dead or Alive? | despardes.com

Oct. 23: Is he dead or alive? Now newspaper Ausaf published from Multan has reported that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden died four months ago in a village near Kandahar of severe illness. He was campaigning at Bamiyan, fell very ill, returned to Kandahar where he died and was buried in the �Shada graveyard in the shadow of a mountain.�

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was not far from the truth when he told reporters from CBS News last month, �he has become a cult, I think.� In fact when asked by CBS News whether the US or Osama bin Laden was more popular in Pakistan, he said, �for the man in the street it may be Osama bin Laden.�

In this interview he was positive that the Al Qaeda leader was alive. The controversy continues to surround Osama bin Laden and while US and Pakistan officials have often been quoted by the media as saying that his mortal status was just a matter of detail, the hunt is still on and the issue remains a topic of great interest for the media and governments alike.

Funeral prayers have been said for Osama bin Laden over these years with one reported now by the Ausaf, and another in an Egyptian newspaper Al Wafd as far back as December 2001. This rep-ort quoted an official of the Taliban saying that he had suffered serious complications in the lungs and died a natural and quiet death.
Ausaf has reported that he died of heart and kidney disorders. Americans and Pakistani leaders have suggested that he was one, killed in the US bombing of Afghanistan, died of illness later, or just died.

They have as vehemently interspersed these death notices with statements that he was very much alive and active. In 2001 for instance Osama bin Laden was dead. Israeli intelligence officers were quoted as saying that he had died and that all videos being released were fake.

La Figaro even carried a report suggesting that he had undergone a kidney operation in Dubai, although this report did not �kill� the Al Qaeda leader. Gen Musharraf at that time insisted that Bin Laden had died of kidney failure. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said that he was probably dead, but that Mullah Omar was definitely alive. The FBI counter terrorism chief Dale Watson at the time was quoted in newspapers as saying that Bin Laden was dead.

In 2002 Osama bin Laden was alive. A top official in the Bush administration was quoted as saying that he was alive. US Vice-President Dick Cheney also suggested that he was alive maintaining that he was sure that his government could prevent future attacks against the United States. Osama bin Laden has a reward of $25 million on his head. Despite this he remains elusive, and could remain that way for a long time, alive or dead. (Source: Deccan Chronicle)

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