Italy's leading news agency has denied reporting that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden would attend Pope John Paul's funeral on Friday after a story attributed to it circulated widely on the Internet.
"Some people just won't stop even at a time of mourning for the Pope: among the deluge of false emails, viruses and spam, a false item attributed to Ansa is circulating about Osama bin Laden attending the funeral of John Paul II," the Ansa agency said.
In a dispatch issued last night, Ansa noted that the prankster, who specified bin Laden would be flying to Rome from Pakistan, had accurately imitated the agency's sign-off style - a series of letters and numbers at the end of every item.
Bin Ladenis thought to be hiding on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.