23rd
July 2009
U.S.
officials believe Saad bin Laden — a son of Osama bin
Laden — has been killed by an American missile in
Pakistan.
Saad bin Laden
reportedly spent years under house arrest in Iran before
traveling last year to Pakistan, according to former
National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.
It's believed he was
killed by Hellfire missiles fired from a U.S. Predator
drone sometime this year.
A senior U.S.
counterterrorism official tells NPR that without a body
to conduct DNA tests on, it's hard to be completely
sure. But he characterized U.S. spy agencies as being
"80 to 85 percent" certain that Saad bin Laden is dead.
The U.S.
counterterrorism official says Saad bin Laden wasn't
important enough to target personally — that he was "in
the wrong place at the wrong time."
He was active in
al-Qaida, but was not a major player, the official said.
He was believed to be in his late 20s.
We make a big deal
out of him because of his last name," the official
added.
It's not known whether Saad bin Laden was anywhere near
his father when he died.
