US Thinks Osama's in Pakistan Mountain Range

(NEWSER) - Pakistan’s president suggested today that Osama bin Laden could be dead, an assertion the US strenuously objects to, the New York Daily News reports. “He may be dead. But that’s been said before,” Asif Ali Zardari said. “It’s still between fiction and fact.” Zardari offered no proof for his claim. More»

Anti-terror campaign has taken toll, but threat remains imminent

(NEWSER) - Seven years after 9/11, al-Qaeda's hatred of the West hasn't waned, even if some experts think the terrorist group’s capabilities are weakened, the Los Angeles Times reports. Al-Qaeda’s failure to launch any major attacks since 2005 suggests that aggressive prosecution and prevention operations have been successful. However, Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy are still at large. More»

Pakistan is holding them in security compound for now

(NEWSER) - Osama bin Laden advised his children against a life of terror, according to one of his brothers-in-law. "He told his own children and grandchildren, go to Europe and America and get a good education," says Zakara al-Sadah, whose sister was the al-Qaeda chief's fifth wife. For now, Sadah claims, Pakistani authorities are holding nine bin Laden children and three wives—including Sadah's sister—in an Islamabad security compound against their will, reports the Daily Mail via The Sunday Times . More»

Says Ilyas Kashmiri killed in US drone strike Friday

(AP) - Pakistan's interior minister is absolutely positive that wanted al-Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri was killed Friday in a US drone strike. "I can confirm 100 percent that he is dead," Rehman Malik said, though he didn't say how his government knew that or if it had evidence. His statement came just hours after PM Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters that America had confirmed the death. Malik has previously claimed the deaths of some Taliban leaders, only to be proven wrong later. More»

Brothers Abrar and Ibrahim Said Ahmad were Osama's link to outside

(NEWSER) - The courier who inadvertently led the US to Osama bin Laden has been identified, along with his brother. Abrar and Ibrahim Said Ahmad were born in Kuwait, but their family hailed from a one-time Taliban stronghold in northwest Pakistan, according to a senior Pakistani security official. The Wall Street Journal , which first reported the story, notes that it's not clear which brother is which, although the AP reports that Ibrahim was the courier. The CIA first knew of the courier only through his nom de guerre. More»