The official website of the Al Qaeda recently published Thursday an article in which is said the network’s leader, Osama bin Laden, had died during the bombardment launched by the United States on the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan. On the other hand, sources close to bin Laden deny those rumors and claim that he is still alive.
The Jihad on-line internet site, known for its connections with radical Islamic circles, claims that bin Laden’s bunker in Tora Bora indeed had been directly hit by an American missile, and that the shrapnel, which dispersed all over, hit anyone who was at the scene, but bin Laden himself wasn’t there at the time. According to the site report, Osama Aladanni, a close aide to bin Laden, had been killed during that attack, and it is possible that the confusion emanated from the similarity in the names.
It should be noted that a couple of weeks ago, the London-based Al Quds Al Arab daily reported that bin Laden was still alive. The daily, whose Chief editor, Abed al Bari Atwan, is known for his strong ties with sources close to bin Laden, further claimed that bin Laden has no plans to appear in public; and would do so only after his organization would carry out another attack against the United States. Moreover, it is noteworthy to add that the report in the paper appeared months following the attacks on Tora Bora, in which it had been claimed that bin Laden found his death in them. (Albawaba.com)
