Subj:	DNA test on tissues to decide Bin Laden's fate
Date:	1/16/02 6:39:39 AM Pacific Standard Time

DNA test on tissues to decide Bin Laden's fate

Vijay Dutt (London, January 13)

The British and the US intelligence are still investigating
reports that Osama bin Laden had "somehow crossed over to
Pakistan", weeks before the rout of the Taliban early
November.

But at the same time, they say they have no reliable
information to back these reports and are inclined to
believe that he is dead. This premise is based on the belief
that Laden was hiding in Tora Bora till hours before the
Al-Qaeda base fell in December.

The CIA belief about Bin Laden's death is based on
communications intercepted from Taliban and Afghan fighters
and interrogation of prisoners. One source told The
Observer: "Just before the complex fell, I got a call from a
friend involved in the operation. He said 'we really think
we have got him’. All information we had at that time
suggested he must have died."

If Bin Laden did stay in the caves in Tora Bora, his death
wouldn’t be surprising. The US had dropped Daisycutter
15,000 lb bombs at th cave entrances. These bombs vapourised
the entire area around most of the entrances. Further, those
hiding inside the caves would have been torn to pieces by
the colossal pressure waves and incinerated by the heat
generated by the bombs.

A DNA test will be done on dismembered fingers and human
organ tissues collected from and around the caves. This will
ultimately confirm whether Bin Laden was among the dead. FBI
agents had flown to Saudi Arabia last November and took DNA
from some of the Laden siblings.