US FBI Official Says He Believes bin Laden Dead

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 18, 2002

US FBI Official Says He Believes bin Laden Dead

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Dale Watson, counterterrorism chief of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in Washington Wednesday that he personally believes Osama bin Laden is dead, but he has no evidence to support that.

This is the first time a senior US official has publicly commented on the status of the al Qaida leader.

"Is (bin Laden) alive or is he dead?," Watson said. "I am not really sure of the answer....I personally think he is probably notwith us anymore but I have no evidence to support that, Watson told a conference of law enforcement officials in Washington.

He said that al Qaida's terrorist training camps have been dismantled, but "there is no question" the US will be attacked again.

There has been wide speculation about bin Laden's whereabouts and well-being since December.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi, a London-based Arabic newspaper, said Tuesdaythat bin Laden was wounded in a US bombing raid in Afghanistan last year but is still in good health.

On Saturday, head of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, August Hanning, was quoted in Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper as saying bin Laden is alive and hiding somewhere in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Bush administration has said publicly it does not know the whereabouts of bin Laden and whether he is alive or dead.

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