Taliban leader says bin Laden alive & well

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A Taliban leader said in a video message that Osama bin Laden is alive and well and in communication with extremists on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Mansour Dadullah, brother of slain Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, released a video message this week in the form of a 12-minute interview with English subtitles.

The message was released by the Taliban’s Umar Studio and the interview was dated June 15, according to IntelCenter, a U.S. consultancy that tracks extremists’ public statements.

“What is your opinion about the life of Sheikh Osama?” the interviewer asks, according to the subtitles. “Is he alive or not? If he is alive, do you have contacts with him?”

Dadullah replies: “All praise be to Allah, he is extremely healthy and active. I received a message from him in which he advised me I must follow Mullah Dadullah and continue the same activities so that the mujahedin may not weaken.”

According to IntelCenter, the video also included footage of a graduation ceremony for suicide bombers earlier this year, which the Taliban invited journalists to film, and which was subsequently broadcast by ABC and the BBC.