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Reports Speculate bin Laden Dead
Thursday, February 07, 2002
l'Agence France-Presse

The Predator fired at least one RQ-1 Hellfire anti-tank missiles, directly hitting the men who had gathered outside the cars, NBC News reported.

US defence and intelligence officials have refused to comment on a flurry of media reports that a high-ranking al-Qaeda official, possibly Osama bin Laden himself, was killed in southeastern Afghanistan earlier this week.

"We are not commending on these reports now," Central Intelligence Agency spokesman Fred Leeder told AFP.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Defence declined all comment as well while Commander Frank Merriman of the Central Command said, "I can tell it was not our operation."

"Our Predator was not involved," he added.

Citing unnamed officials and other sources, all major US television networks reported last night that an unmanned Predator drone operated by the CIA fired a missile on Monday at a group of people believed to be senior al-Qaeda leaders meeting near a cave complex known as Zawar Khili.
(More: News Interactive News Source)
2002 © l'Agence France-Presse.

Dan