Taliban doubts killing of Osama

The Afghan Taliban said on Tuesday they had not seen sufficient evidence to convince them that al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, is dead.

This is their first comment since United States officials said the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks was killed in Pakistan.

“As the Americans did not provide any acceptable evidence to back up their claim, and as the other aides close to Osama bin Laden have not confirmed or denied the death ... therefore the Islamic Emirate considers any assertion premature,” said a statement e-mailed to the media by Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid.

The statement said the Islamist group, which harboured bin Laden in Southern Afghanistan before and immediately after the September 11 attacks, would not offer any comment until they had seen evidence from bin Laden’s aides.

US President Barack Obama announced the killing of bin Laden, who was found in a compound in the military garrison town of Abottabad about 60 km north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Bin Laden’s body was flown out of Pakistan after the raid by a small US strike team, taken to an aircraft carrier and buried somewhere in the North Arabian sea on Monday, US officials have said.

Washington has so far not released any photographs of bin Laden’s body or the burial, raising doubts in some Islamist forums about whether he was killed.

A US official told Reuters in Washington on Tuesday that the US might release photos of the burial at sea.

Other Islamist groups were quick to denounce the killing of bin Laden, with many vowing to carry out attacks against Westerners to avenge his death.

But the Taliban had remained quiet until Tuesday, despite a relatively sophisticated media network they had developed over the past few years.

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