Taliban denies reports of Mullah Omar's death
A spokesman says the fugitive Taliban leader is alive in Afghanistan. There is no confirmation of reports by several media outlets that he died in Pakistan.A Taliban spokesman on Monday vehemently denied a swirl of rumors that the movement's spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had died or been killed.
The spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said by telephone that Omar -- the one-eyed, self-declared "commander of the faithful" who has long been thought to be hiding in Pakistan -- was alive and well in Afghanistan, directing the group's military campaign.
Nonetheless, the wildfire-like spread of the reports -- aided by social media such as Twitter -- reflected the intense degree of speculation surrounding Omar's fate, which has dramatically heightened since Navy SEALs killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden three weeks earlier in his Pakistan hideout.
A spokesman for Afghanistan's main intelligence service, Lutfullah Mashal, told the Associated Press that he had information that Omar had been moved from Pakistan's Baluchistan province -- the seat of the Taliban leadership council known as the Quetta shura -- to the North Waziristan tribal agency, with the knowledge of former Pakistani intelligence chief Hamid Gul. The news service said Gul denied the allegation.
Afghanistan's Tolo television took it [...]
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