Pentagon Downplays Reports on Sightings of Bin Laden in Southeastern Afghanistan

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Pentagon Downplays Reports on Sightings of Bin Laden in Southeastern Afghanistan

The Pentagon said on Tuesday there was no credible evidence that Osama bin Laden and his top aide Ayman al-Zawahri had been spotted recently in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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The Pentagon said on Tuesday there was no credible evidence that Osama bin Laden and his top aide Ayman al-Zawahri had been spotted recently in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"We get reports of sightings" of bin Laden and his top aide al-Zawahri, but none of the reports proved credible, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said. "We don't know if he's dead or alive."

Recent media reports said the U.S.-led coalition was shifting its focus farther south of Afghanistan in response to unconfirmed reports that Osama bin Laden had been seen in southeastern Afghanistan.

"I saw those reports. For the last six or seven months we've had several sightings not only of those two individuals, but of Omar. We continue to search them out," said Brigadier General JohnRosa, spokesman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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