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WASHINGTON, March 23: The United States is closely watching a political challenge to President Gen Pervez Musharraf over his suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Moham-mad Chaudhry, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.
Gates said he had been told that formal charges would be brought later against Justice Chaudhry.
“We are clearly watching the situation in Pakistan,” Gates told reporters, adding: “We’ll just have to see what those charges are.”
OSAMA: Gates also told a news conference that he assumed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was alive but had no proof one way or the other.
“I have no idea whether he is alive or not,” Gates said. “I assume so, until proven otherwise.”
As late as March 1, London television Channel 4 aired an interview with a Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, who said Osama was alive and in contact with Taliban officers.
The station did not say when the tape was made.—Agencies
