Report: Bin Laden Dead
The French defense ministry on Saturday called for an internal investigation of the leak of an intelligence document that raises the possibility that Osama bin Laden may have died of typhoid in Pakistan a month ago but said the report of the death remained unverified.
"The information defused this morning by the L'Est Republicain newspaper concerning the possible death of Osama bin Laden cannot be confirmed," a Defense Ministry statement said.
The daily newspaper for the Lorraine region in eastern France printed what it described as a confidential document from the French foreign intelligence service DGSE citing an uncorroborated report from Saudi secret services that the leader of the al Qaeda terror network had died.
Intelligence sources tell CBS News that the document is an accurate reflection of what the Saudi intelligence agents believe.
The contents of the document, dated Sept. 21, or Thursday, were not confirmed by French or other intelligence sources. However, the DGSE transmitted the note to President Jacques Chirac and other officials, the newspaper said.
Bin Laden: Dead Or Alive? Read What Arab Diplomats Say.
Chirac said Saturday that the information is "in no way whatsoever confirmed." Chirac declined further comment.
Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie "has demanded an investigation be carried out of this leak," a ministry statement said, adding that transmission of the confidential document could risk punishment.
Defense Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau, clarifying the statement, said that the DGSE document exists but that its contents that bin Laden is allegedly dead — cannot be confirmed.
A senior White house official says of the information, "I wouldn't hold your breath," reports CBS News White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.
The DGSE, or Direction Generale des Services Exterieurs, indicated that its information came from a single source.
"According to a reliable source, Saudi security services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead," said the intelligence report.
The Saudis say they have credible information, but without a body, it will be impossible to confirm, reports CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar.
There have been periodic reports of bin Laden's illness or death in recent years, but none has been proven accurate.
According to this document, Saudi security services were pursuing further details, notably the place of his burial.
"The chief of al Qaeda was a victim of a severe typhoid crisis while in Pakistan on August 23, 2006," the document says. His geographic isolation meant that medical assistance was impossible, the French report said, adding that his lower limbs were allegedly paralyzed. On Sept. 4, Saudi security services had their first information on bin Laden's alleged death, the unconfirmed document reported.
In Pakistan, a senior official of that country's top spy agency, the ISI or Directorate of Inter-Service Intelligence, said he had no information to confirm bin Laden's whereabouts or that he might be dead. The official said he believed the report could be fabricated. The official was not authorized to speak publicly on the topic and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The newspaper that ran the story, L'Est Republicain, 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.
U.S. Embassy officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan also said they could not confirm the French report.
In Washington, CIA duty officer Paul Gimigliano said he could not confirm the DGSE report.
The Washington-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications, said it was not aware of any similar reports on the Internet.
"We've seen nothing from any al Qaeda messaging or other indicators that would point to the death of Osama bin Laden," IntelCenter director Ben N. Venzke told The Associated Press.
Al Qaeda would likely release information of his death fairly quickly if it were true, said Venzke, whose organization also provides counterterrorism intelligence services for the American government.
"They would want to release that to sort of control the way that it unfolds. If they wait too long, they could lose the initiative on it," he said.
The last time the IntelCenter says it could be sure bin Laden was alive was June 29, when al-Qaida released an audiotape in which the terror leader eulogized the death of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq earlier that month.