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| 29 February 2004 | Sunday | 08 Muharram 1425 |
Pakistan, US deny Osama's capture
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON, Feb 28: Pakistan and United States on Saturday denied reports on state-run Iranian media that Al Qaeda terror network chief Osama bin Laden had been arrested in Pakistan.
Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency's Pashtun language services reported that Osama was arrested in Pakistan's tribal regions.
The report, which could not be independently verified, said the alleged arrest took place "some time ago" but gave no further details.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri told reporters at a press conference that he could not confirm reports carried by "international media" that Osama had been arrested in Pakistan.
"We cannot confirm it at all," Mr Kasuri said.
Pakistan's military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan told AFP: "This report is not correct."
Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan also told AFP that "there was no report of Osama's arrest from the tribal areas of Pakistan."
In Washington, a senior US defence official denied the report, telling Reuters it was "another piece of stray voltage that's passing around out there."
The Iranian correspondent responsible for the report told Reuters that the radio had also reported Osama's capture a year ago. But said a new source had told him on Friday the Al Qaeda leader had been seized "a long time ago".-AFP/Reuters
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