French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy felt obliged yesterday to announce that the founder of al-Qa'eda, Osama bin Laden, was not dead, after a newspaper report citing French intelligence claimed that he died in Pakistan about a month ago. "To my knowledge, Osama bin Laden is not dead. It is quite simple," Mr Douste-Blazy told French television. "It's the truth," he said.

French President Jacques Chirac had said earlier that the newspaper claim, that bin Laden might have died of typhoid in a hideout in Pakistan, was "in no way confirmed". He added that he was "surprised" that the provincial newspaper, l'Est Republicain, had published an excerpt from a French secret service note relaying information from Saudi Arabia's intelligence service. A number of foreign governments and the Taliban movement have also refuted the information, reported RIA Novosti.