Did quake claim life of bin Laden?

[Ganja Ninja]

Temblor may have forced him from hideout but also diverted the troops on his trail

By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Did Osama bin Laden's secret lair crumble in the earthquake that devastated northwest Pakistan?

So far, U.S. government officials and terrorism experts caution against too much speculation about whether the al-Qaida chief may have been killed, injured or forced from hiding.

"There's a lot of people who know that that's an obvious question" was the most Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita would say Tuesday about U.S. thinking on bin Laden's fate.

Federal officials who track terrorism said there's no evidence yet to suggest that bin Laden or his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, was injured or killed in the quake.

Yet the quake has caused many in and out of government to ask, "What if?"

More: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3392472