French Foreign Minister : To my knowledge, Osama bin Laden is not dead.

To my knowledge, Osama bin Laden is not dead. It is quite simple," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told French television on Sunday. The Saudis were seeking evidence of bin Laden's death, notably by looking for his remains, the memo said.

Saudi embassy in Washington issued a two-sentence statement saying "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no evidence to support recent media reports that Osama bin Laden is dead." Bin Laden has several times been rumoured to have died in the past, only to appear later in audio or video recordings.

Crowds around the nation were still cheering the news of the death of Osama bin Laden on Monday, but many in the Southland say they still want proof that the elusive al-Qaida leader is really dead.

losangeles.cbslocal.com...

USA says that his body will be buried in sea ! because no country accept his body ! oh... that totally means that no country or person will ever be sure that bin laden is dead.... he may be alive !

reply to post by romka71

Philippe Douste-Blazy is not the current French foreign minister (currently it is Alain Juppe).
PDB was the French foreign minister from June 2005 to May 2007 (found on Wikipedia).
He is currently "Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations on Innovative Finance for Development, with the rank of Under Secretary General." (from his homepage www.pdousteblazy.com...).
He is therefore not in a position to hold any inside information from the CIA or any other government agency.
Please keep in mind that the next presidential elections in France are in May 2012 and the race is already runnig at full pace.
Bin Laden's death annoucement is discussed a lot in France as it is used by the French political party leaders to position themselves pro- or against the government (i.e. Sarkozy and the current party in power - UMP) in regard to the upcoming elections.