Al-Qaeda 'statement' says Bin Laden dead

Al-Qaeda has told an United Arab Emirates newspaper that Osama bin Laden is dead.

Al-Qaeda has told an United Arab Emirates newspaper that Osama bin Laden is dead.

The Al Bayannewspaper printed a statement allegedly from the terror group saying their leader was killed during the US bombing of the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan, the BBC reported.

But the statement reportedly said al-Qaeda's Jihad would continue until the "Day of Judgement". The claim could not be independently verified.

Mideast experts urged caution, saying the wording was unclear, and that it was not certain whether the authors were referring to bin Laden himself.

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Since the Afghan war there have been numerous claims that the alleged architect of the September 11th terror attacks is either dead or in hiding.

A journalist for the Gulf satellite TV station Al-Jazeera has said he now believes bin Laden is dead after interviewing two senior al-Qaida members in Karachi, Pakistan.

Although both men stressed their leader was alive, the reporter said Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, head of al-Qaida's military committee, surprised him by at one point by referring to bin Laden in the past tense.

PA