Spy Chiefs to Probe 'osama is Dead' Claim

Intrigue last night surrounded a leaked French intelligence report that Osama bin Laden had died of typhoid. The news spread rapidly around the globe, prompting a flurry of investigations by officials in Paris, Washington, London and Islamabad.

The report surfaced in a regional French newspaper which had obtained the leaked report claiming Saudi Arabian sources were 'convinced' the terror chief had been killed in August.

It prompted a flurry of official statements. After a remarkable day of rumour and counter-rumour, it appears the answer is that no one really knows. French President Jacques Chirac told reporters bin Laden's death '... has not been confirmed in any way whatsoever.' While a US intelligence official said: 'It's quite possible there was some talk of this, but in terms of being able to confirm this, that I can't do.'

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'We continue to have no reason to believe that he is dead.' Downing Street refused to comment on the reports. Privately, senior Whitehall sources said they had no evidence that the claims were true.

French defence minister Michele Alliot-Marie ordered an official investigation into how the French newspaper L'Est Republicain got hold of a classified spy report. That dossier, which the paper printed, said Saudi intelligence believed Bin Laden had died in Pakistan on 23 August 2006. 'According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi security services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead'. It said the typhoid had led to a partial paralysis of Bin Laden's internal organs while he was in Pakistan and unable to get to medical care.

L'Est Republicain journalist Laed Sammari, who obtained the report, told The Observer: 'I hold more information', but refused to provide details. 'What we should be asking is why did the French secret service write the report in the first place?' he said.

The Saudis also moved rapidly to downplay the reports. A senior Saudi security source told The Observer: 'This report is an analysis by French intelligence of what they believe we think. And it is not true that either the Saudi government or Saudi intelligence are convinced Bin Laden is dead.'

In the end the only reliable sign comes from bin Laden himself through the video and audio tapes that he releases. His last videotape was released in late 2004, but his last audio tape was in July.