Khaleej Times : Australian deputy leader: War on terror won’t end if Bin Laden dies

Australian deputy leader: War on terror won’t end if Bin Laden dies

AP | September 24, 2006

CANBERRA, Australia - If Osama bin Laden died it would a victory in the international fight against terrorism but it would not mean the conflict was over, Australia’s deputy leader said on Sunday.

Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile was responding to a report in a French newspaper citing an intelligence document that said Al Qaeda leader Bin Laden may have died of typhoid.

Vaile said Australian officials had seen reports on the French newspaper story, and noted they were unconfirmed.

It would be a great boost in the war against terror but it wouldn’t mean the war against terror is over,’ Vaile told television’s Nine Network.

The Al Qaeda network is well established, we know that, and it’s going to be an ongoing battle,’ he said.

The regional French newspaper l’Est Republicain printed a copy of a confidential document from the DGSE intelligence service on Saturday citing an uncorroborated report from a usually reliable source’ who said Saudi secret services were convinced that bin Laden had died.

French President Jacques Chirac said the report was in no way whatsoever confirmed’ and officials from Kabul to Washington have expressed skepticism about its accuracy