US, Pakistan deny Iranian report on Bin Laden arrest

Published February 28th, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

Iran's state radio, quoting an unnamed source, said Saturday that Osama bin Laden was captured in Pakistan "a long time ago." Later, a Pakistan army spokesman and the Pentagon denied this report.

It said that U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's recent visit to the region was linked to the arrest.

The state radio said a reporter for its Pushtun service in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar "confirmed the news" that al Qaeda leader had been captured in a tribal region in Pakistan. He said the news was from "a very reliable source in Peshawar, Pakistan."

Pakistani Army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan told The Associated Press that the report is completely untrue. "That information is wrong," he said. Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed called the report "baseless." "We have neither arrested Osama nor have we any information about him," he told AP.

"Osama bin Laden has been arrested a long time ago, but (President) Bush is intending to use it for propaganda maneuvering in the presidential election," the Iranian report said. (Albawaba.com)