Maddy Sauer, ABC News, July 6, 2007
Early this week, as banners on extreme Islamist websites announced a message of good news to come shortly from Al Qaeda leadership, terrorism analysts and the media began speculating that it might be the first message in over a year from Osama bin Laden to his followers. As it turned out, it was yet another message from his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri that was more academic than threatening. Almost six years after the attacks of September 11th, bin Laden has continued to elude capture and has remained a thorn in the side of US anti-terror efforts.
“It seems likely that word would have leaked out if bin Laden had died, so we assume he is alive,” Richard Clarke, a former US counterterrorism official and ABC News consultant, said. “His location, however, is totally unknown.”
The world last heard from bin Laden in June 2006 when he issued an audio statement praising the efforts of fellow terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi who had been recently killed in Iraq. There has been no new video of bin Laden since October 2004. The last time there was a lengthy gap between his statements was between December 2004 and January 2006.
Meanwhile, his followers often make claims that their leader is alive and well. Last month, top Taliban Commander Mansoor Dadullah, who recently led the graduation ceremony of suicide bomber recruits, told Al Jazeera that bin Laden is “alive and active” and that the Al Qaeda leader had even sent him a condolence letter when his brother, another top Taliban commander, was killed by coalition forces.
“He’s carrying out his duties,” Dadullah said. “He preferred to stay away, and we preferred that because he should stay in hiding and give instructions.”