THE TELEGRAPH: Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has raised the prospect that Osama bin Laden could be dead after he said that intelligence officials could find "no trace" of the al-Qaeda chief.
He said that neither his own advisers in Pakistan nor US intelligence agencies had detected any trace of the al-Qaeda leader since Al Jazeera television broadcast an audio recording of his voice in March.
But even then, unlike on previous occasions the authenticity of the voice purporting to be bin Laden was not confirmed by the CIA.
There have been regular reports of bin Laden's ill health, notably speculation about his kidneys failing. Mr Zardari said his own advisers believed there was substance to the rumours.
"The question is whether he is alive or dead. There is no trace of him," he said. >>> By Dean Nelson and Emal Khan in Peshawar | Tuesday, April 28, 2009
