The statement, issued here by the Saudi Royal Embassy, undercuts the central pillar of the story published earlier in the day by the French regional newspaper L'Est Republicain, which insisted that the Saudi intelligence service had concluded that the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks had succumbed to typhoid fever while hiding in Pakistan in late August.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no evidence to support recent media reports that Osama Bin Laden is dead," the embassy responded in a terse two-sentence statement. "Information that has been reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be independently verified," the document stressed.
Adding weight to the rebuttal was the fact that Saudi Ambassador to the United States Prince Turki Al Faisal is known for his intimate ties to his country's intelligence service, which he headed for 24 years before embarking on a diplomatic career in 2002.
The Saudi denial capped a day of intense speculation and bitter skepticism as politicians and counterterrorism experts expressed doubt that Bin Laden, who has eluded capture for more than five years, has met his end.
The French newspaper report quoted a confidential French secret service document as saying that "Saudi security services are now convinced that Osama Bin Laden is dead."
It went on to allege that the Al Qaeda leader was struck down by a serious case of typhoid, "which led to a partial paralysis of his internal organs", resulting in his death some time between August 23 and September 4.
Typhoid, which is an infectious disease spread through contaminated food or water, can be fatal.
Further churning the rumor mill was an almost simultaneous report by Time magazine, which quoted an unnamed "Saudi source," arguing that Saudi officials had received multiple recent reports that Bin Laden has been suffering from a water-borne illness.
The US magazine, however, stopped short of declaring the Al Qaeda leader dead.
The chorus of skeptics was led by French President Jacques Chirac, who immediately sought to distance himself from the L'Est Republicain account, saying it could not be confirmed.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in New York she had "no knowledge" of Bin Laden's demise.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in Montreal the report would be welcome if it turns out to be true. "It would be a good news, but it's just speculation," the Afghan leader told Radio-Canada television.
In Pakistan, security officials said they had an excellent relationship with Saudi intelligence but had received no information about Bin Laden's death and believed it would be "inconceivable" that an event of this magnitude would remain unnoticed in Pakistan.
Often rumored to be dead, Bin Laden was believed to be hiding in the rugged the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Five audiotapes or Internet messages attributed to him have been released in the Muslim world so far this year.
However, his last videotape was delivered to the Arab television network Al Jazeera in late October 2004, just days before the US presidential election, and the public has not seen any new pictures of him since.
Born in Saudi Arabia to a wealthy family with close ties to the royals, Bin Laden was indicted in 1998 by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of murder of US nationals outside the United States.
But he has been successfully avoiding capture despite the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which toppled the Taliban regime that had provided him refuge and protection.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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