No Evidence,
but FBI Counterterrorism Chief Thinks Bin Laden Dead
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Watson
asserted that Osama bin Laden was dead, but provided no evidence
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WASHINGTON,
July 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden may be dead, but the threat to U.S. security from the remains of
his organization is still real, Dale Watson, head of the FBI's
anti-terrorist unit, said Wednesday, July 17, 2002.
"Is
he alive or dead? I personally think he's probably no longer with us
anymore. But I have no evidence to support that," Watson said in
a rare public declaration.
Watson
made the announcement at a speech to hundreds of local law enforcement
officers gathered at a hotel in Washington. He is the first senior
U.S. law enforcement official to publicly give an opinion on whether
bin Laden is alive or dead, CNN reported.
Watson's
belief is contrary to that of other senior FBI officials, who declined
commenting on Watson’s assertion, and who have suggested that bin
Laden may likely have survived the U.S. bombardments of his Afghan
hideouts.
Pentagon
spokeswoman Lt. Col. Catherine Abbott said she was not aware of any
new information on bin Laden's fate, and said that until they see
evidence to the contrary, Pentagon officials are operating on an
assumption that he is alive, reports news agencies.
His
comments are the latest twist to international rumors over the fate of
the alleged terrorist mastermind, with the absence of hard fact only
fuelling persistent - and often contradictory - speculation.
On
Monday, July 15, a senior Arab journalist, Abdel-Bari-Atwan, editor of
the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi magazine, said to have close links
to the Al-Qaeda leader claimed in London that bin Laden was alive and
in good health despite having sustained a shrapnel injury to his
shoulder during U.S. bombardments of the Tora Bora region in eastern
Afghanistan.
Germany's
Federal Intelligence Service also concluded bin Laden was probably
alive in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and that
he authorized, but did not plan, the September 11 attacks, news
agencies reported.
U.S.
President George W. Bush, whose administration has avoided saying
whether the government believes bin Laden is dead or alive, said last
week, "Osama bin Laden, he may be alive. If he is, we'll get him.
If he's not alive, we got him ... but the issue is bigger than one
person."
Watson,
meanwhile, insisted that the threat of further terrorist strikes
against the United States was still real, regardless of bin Laden's
fate.
Watson
also said bin Laden's Al-Qaeda training camps has been dismantled, but
that "There is no question in my mind that we will be attacked
again."
Watson
heads the Division of Counter-Terrorism/Counter-Intelligence at FBI
Headquarters in Washington and rarely makes public appearances. He
sometimes substitutes for Director Robert Mueller in White House
meetings on the terrorism threat, reports CNN.
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