January 16, 2006: Bin Laden could be dead: terrorism expert
An Australian terrorism expert says he has been given evidence, which could show Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is either seriously ill or dead. Professor Clive Williams from Macquarie University says he has been provided with evidence, by an Indian colleague, to support the theory that bin Laden died of massive organ failure in April last year. Professor Williams says Ayman al Zawahiri, bin Laden's deputy, has been making all statements on behalf of Al Qaeda for around a year. But Professor Williams says it may be impossible to ever prove if the Al Qaeda leader is alive or dead and says it would not make a big difference if Bin Laden was dead.
"It's hard to prove or disprove these things because there hasn't really been anything that allows you to make a judgement one way or the other," he said. "But it does seem strange that Dr Zawahiri has been making all of the statements since then, and nothing's been heard from Bin Laden since I think the December of the year before. "I suppose there's a degree of satisfaction from a counter-terrorism point of view that he's no longer around," he said. "But the things he said and the things he stood for are probably the more important legacy and will motivate people to engage in jihad fighting into the future."
Professor Williams says even if Bin Laden was dead, it would not make that much difference as people would continue to fight for the things they believe he stood for. He has also recommended against confirming his death or otherwise.
"It could be an embarrassment, particularly for an intelligence agency that said you know, we believe his dead, and then, you know a month later he pops up again," he said. "But it does seem reasonably convincing based on the evidence that I've been provided with that he's certainly either severely incapacitated or dead at this stage."