The U.S. government is seeking DNA samples from suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden's family to determine if human remains found in war-torn Afghanistan belong to the Al Qaeda leader, government sources said on Wednesday.
Human remains have been thoroughly gathered from several U.S. air-strike locations, including the site of a February 4th Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Predator missile strike on a meeting of suspected al-Qaeda leaders, the sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials have been seeking the DNA samples from Osama bin Laden's relatives for months, however, recently stepped up the effort following the Predator strike, one source claimed.
Osama bin Laden’s rich family from Saudi Arabia has disowned the terrorist leader.
Tim Metz, a family spokesman in New York, stated that he was unaware of the United States government's making any formal request to family members for such samples. However, he suggested the samples could be obtained from hospitals or other sources, according to AP.
Metz added that bin Laden has around 50 siblings whose DNA could possibly be used for this purpose.
The February 4th Predator missile strike killed three people suspected by Washington of being high-ranking bin Laden operatives, but some Afghans claim the strike killed innocent people and not terrorists.
U.S. officials say the heavy security and respectful treatment given to the central figure suggest it may have been an al-Qaeda leadership meeting.
However, the DNA collection effort is not simply to determine who died during the Predator strike; other remains found after U.S. bombings in Afghanistan have yet to be identified as well, sources said.
Amidst wide speculation regarding the whereabouts and fate of the world’s most wanted fugitive, U.S. defense officials have said for months that they are unsure if bin Laden is dead or alive.
In the last month, U.S. intelligence obtained faint signs that Osama bin Laden was alive and somewhere in the area of the Pakistani-Afghan border region, where he's thought to have been since leaving the Tora Bora region late last year, a U.S. official said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
