U.S. government seeking DNA samples from bin Laden’s family

By John J. Lumpkin

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government is seeking samples of DNA from Osama bin Laden’s family to determine if human remains found in Afghanistan belong to the terrorist leader, government sources said Wednesday.

Human remains have been collected from a number of U.S. airstrike sites, including the site of a Feb. 4 CIA Predator missile strike on a meeting of suspected al-Qaida leaders, the sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials have been seeking the DNA samples from bin Laden’s family for months, but recently stepped up the effort following the Predator strike, one source said.

The wealthy bin Laden family of Saudi Arabia has disowned the terrorist leader.

Tim Metz, a family spokesman in New York, said he was unaware of the U.S. government’s making any formal request to family members for samples. But he suggested the samples could be obtained from hospitals or other sources.

Metz said bin Laden has about 50 siblings whose DNA could be used.

The Feb. 4 Predator missile strike killed three people suspected by United States of being senior bin Laden operatives, but some Afghans say the strike killed innocents, not terrorists. U.S. officials say the heavy security and deferential treatment given a central figure suggest it may have been an al-Qaida leadership meeting.

But the DNA collection effort isn’t simply to determine who died in the Predator strike; other remains found after U.S. bombing in Afghanistan have yet to be identified as well, sources said.

Defense officials have said for months that they are unsure if bin Laden is dead or alive.

In the last month, U.S. intelligence obtained faint signs that he was alive and somewhere in the Pakistani-Afghan border region – where he’s thought to have been since leaving Tora Bora late last year, a U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Associated Press writer Ted Bridis contributed.