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U.S. cautions report saying Bin Laden dead

PARIS, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. and French officials said Saturday they could not confirm a French newspaper report that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden had died.

The French regional daily L'Est Republicain reported Saturday that Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency had determined bin Laden had died of typhoid in Pakistan in August.

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The newspaper said it based its information on a classified document originating in the French DGSE intelligence service.

It said the DGSE, France's version of the CIA, found the Saudi report sufficiently credible to have it relayed to French President Jacques Chirac Thursday, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle said.

"According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead," the document said.

Chirac and the French Defense Minister said they would launch an inquiry into the leak of the secret papers.

A senior Pakistani interior ministry official said Islamabad had not received information from any foreign government to confirm the story.

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