Rumors Swirl About Bin Laden's Health

CBS News: Arab Diplomats Discuss Reports Of Bin Laden's Death

(CBS)  Over the past 12 months, according to security and diplomatic sources in Pakistan and elsewhere, the Saudi services have greatly improved their intelligence gathering capacity, especially in southern Afghanistan, and the Pakistan border region.

The intelligence service source told CBS News that over the past weeks, a number of al Qaeda-linked figures left the Pakistan-Afghanistan region and returned to countries in the Arabian Gulf. Some of the returnees have been interrogated and provided important intelligence.

Another Arab diplomat said reports of bin Laden's death would have to be either confirmed if his body was found or through an official statement for there to be confirmation. "But if you look at just the history of the man, the probability of his survival for long is not that great," the second Arab diplomat said on similar condition of anonymity.

"At the end of the day, if bin Laden is dead, al Qaeda will announce it," Scheuer said on the Saturday Early Show.

CBS News has been told the Saudis themselves have been very careful to say that while they believe the intelligence they have is credible, it will be impossible to confirm bin Laden's death without either recovery of a body, or the arrests of al Qaeda figures and others who are known to have been with him.

One former Pakistani official with prior responsibility for security affairs said there was speculation among Pakistani intelligence officials that al Qaeda had already undergone a leadership transition which has seen Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the group's second highest ranking leader, emerge as the key decision maker.

"If you just track the number of al Qaeda videos which have come out in the public, you see Ayman Al-Zawahiri in there mostly. Does this mean, Osama bin Laden has been in semi-retirement for a while because of his deteriorating health? That's a question which is worth asking" he said.

Pakistani officials expressed complete ignorance of the classified memo published by the French newspaper, L'Est Republicain, circulated to the French President and other senior figures. Written on Sept. 21 by the DGSE, the French exterior intelligence service, the memo reports intelligence gathered by the Saudi services, under the headline "Saudis Moving Towards Conclusion Bin Laden is Dead."

The French government has declined to comment on the contents of the document, but the Minister of Defense has ordered an investigation into the leaking of classified documents.

The newspaper that ran the story is a well-respected regional daily, but the journalist who wrote it, however, is a crime reporter rather than a specialist in intelligence matters, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Cobbe from Paris.

[ronniehm]

That is some really paranoid sh-t. Either do something about the voices in your head, or at least stop running the car with the garage door closed. Usama was just "living in their country?" Yeah, and Hitler was just "sightseeing in Poland." The more incredible the liberal explanations become, the more I have no choice but to believe something else. Give us a real theory backed up by some proof, not that garbage.

[sharncedar]

"but why does our government want him to remain a figure still alive?"

The best explanation for government actions is the theory of preservation of bureaucracy. Government bureaus exist to preserve their own existence. Every government employee exists to preserve their own job, is another way of saying that.

So Osama keeps the war in Iraq appearing relevant. Osama gone, why do we need a war in Iraq?

One indication that Osama may be gone, is that we are hearing so much invented news now about the "Taliban". This will be the bogeyman they use to replace Osama, I guess. Fighting the "Taliban" appears to be closely related to 9/11 to the stupid mass public, who don't get that the "Taliban" actually didn't participate in 9/11 or know about 9/11, they just let Osama live in their country, or at least didn't drive him out.

[ronniehm]

Uh huh, and Barbra Streisand will never tour again. You can't resist me.

[drgoodwin12]

to RonnieMH my absolute last words to you are,I will not argue with you.It is the equivalent of arguing with someone who listen to way too much Frank Zappa and your thoughts are as weird as Zappa's music.

[rd1963-2009]

Death couldn't have come to a better man.

[ronniehm]

No doubt you have a hilarious theory about how George Bush will construct the audio portion of the tape as well. Fooling bin laden's buddies in arabic will be quite a feat, but I heard they did something like that on Star Trek, so it must be possible.

[shameonbush]

Since there is a rumour that Bin Laden is dead, as their was in 2001, then we should be seeing another video of Bin Laden any day now. The Bush regime won't stand for a dead Bin Laden. Oh, the art of computer graphics is amazing isn't it? I wonder if Bin Laden will be wearing the same gold shawl that he has worn for the last 9 years. Amazing how it looks like new all the time, he must have several of the exact same kind in his closet. I'm waiting for the video Mr. Bush, I hope it's more amusing than the last one.

[shameonbush]

I think Bin Laden has been dead for years. I don't think the question should be whether or not he's dead, but why does our government want him to remain a figure still alive? I bet if they found Bin Laden's body, it is thoroughly decomposed. I wonder if they have some of Bin Laden's DNA to compare DNA to in case they find his corpse.

[pbowie1]

I think he's dead , even though he "resurfaces" every now and again , to prove he was alive you'd think he'd hold up a copy of a recent newspaper or something so we could actually see he's alive.
I'd like to see him killed for what he has done to us and dying of a disease is cop out-personally Id like to see him get his head lopped off like his followers have done to our people.
ps my wife says he's been dead for years but it wouldn't be good for the govt to let us know or thier war would not be sanctioned...

[drgoodwin12]

To RonnieMH ,you obviously did not read ShutupMurtha comments or cacth the implied sarcasm in his log on name Shut up Murtha referring to senator Murtha who called for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. I better slow down and put this in a child language as you obviuosly do not understand ShutupMurtha point about us the United States being safer after 9/11 on airplanes.Is this the part that confused you where he asks if we were safer before 9/11 than we are now.I am a Democrat but not a liberal and ShutupMurtha has at least called for some intelligent dialogue instead of ranting and raving like you do.Still waiting for you to post your transcripts of a 4.0 grade average and your degree.

[patriotic9]

If we would have got Bin Laden in Tora Bora,we didn't have to waste our time guessing whether he is dead or alive.Why did we send just few thousand troops in Afghanistan where Bin Laden was at that time and sent hundreds of thousands of troops in Iraq which has nothing to do with 9/11.Because according to Radical Christianity,Afghanistan is not the place which has anything to do with second coming of Christ.These Radical christians don't care about US intrest at all but only care about their Radical,backward non sense view which goes against the constitution whcih separates church from state.

[sfcrdf]

I do hope he IS dead. Maybe then we can focus on some of the other terrorists bent on killing us and we should not forget about the communists like the ones in Cuba and Venzuela who would like to see our country dismantled. All I am saying is that the liberals will want to make political hay out of it because they hate President Bush so much. It is the liberal party in decline and for that I am glad! President Bush has the gumption to stand up and never give in and that is why we are safer. Maybe not safe but safer. Clinton was and is so afraid of his "image" that he tried to lead by consensus - - very dangerous indeed.

[sfcrdf]

Well SutupMurtha you certainly appear to be right in the middle of all the liberals that I would expect to see here at CBS. I am on your side. If there is any ploy to be had here it is with the liberals as they desperately want Bin Laden out of the mix right now before the November election. Good for you!!

[suzanneja]

"We intelligent people..."? Ah, that shows what your mentality really is.

[sfcrdf]

LOL Sounds like a liberal ploy to defuse this as a political hot potato. Seems strange that rumors like this are getting started six weeks before the upcoming election. I expect a lot more rumors and trail ballons in the next six weeks.

[ronniehm]

Well, nothing like proving a theory by stringing together 15 theories that mainly rely on your ability to read minds.

[sharncedar]

This is the Bush clowns worst nightmare. By leaving Osama Bin Laden out there, they were able to keep the hype up about the "Islamo-fascists" and keep their ignorant followers confused about the IRaq war that it was somehow related to Osama Bin Laden. If he is dead, what bogeyman to use to justify outrages and freedom here at home, and the endless war and casualites? As body bags come home, how can they pretend it is about anything more than Bush/Cheney's horrible blunder?

We intelligent people often forget how confused Bush's hypotized followers are about whether Iraq is releated to Osam Bin Laden. The one thing the American Fascist Party (neo-Republicans) don't do is overestimate the attention span or knowledge of their constituents.

Hence why great pains taken to keep OBL alive these 5 years.

[tomflint69]

Haaa haaaa haaa heee heeee heeeee
I 100% agree with nonpalindrom.
all ppl please read his comments.

[afroburner]

Approval ratings are up 5% over last month.

[hsjamsir-2009]

I am not really sure about that info.
However, it will be hot news.
Just wait and see