Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia Monday denied reports that Osama bin Laden, wanted by the United States for terrorism, recently survived an assassination attempt, a private news agency said.
"There has been no attempt at all on the life of Osama bin Laden," Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef, said in a statement to the Afghan Islamic Press.
Reports in Tehran newspapers said Bin Laden escaped unharmed when unidentified attackers fired rockets on his convoy as it passed through the Afghan city of Kandahar.
They cited witnesses as saying several cars belonging to his bodyguards had been destroyed and that the Taliban Islamic militia in Afghanistan had tried to quash reports of the attack.
There was no word on when the attack had taken place.
"The reports are a figment of imagination. There has been no attmpt to kill Osama bin Laden and he and his companions are safe," the envoy told the Pakistan-based agency.
Bin Laden, who is on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's ten-most-wanted list for the bombing of two US embassies in 1998, in which more than 200 people were killed, has been living as a "welcomed guest" in Afghanistan since 1996 – KABUL (AFP)
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