Now known as the "submarine affair" in France, it has transpired that Al Qaeda was willingly blamed by all sides while many knew it to be a lie.

A coach carrying French naval engineers and technicians was bombed as it left a hotel in Karachi in May 2002. The attack killed 14 people in all.

French magistrates Marc Trevidic and Yves Jannier had obtained a top secret internal memo in October 2008 from the state-owned shipbuilder which contained the allegations that the attack was orchestrated by unnamed Pakistani officials angry with France over non-payment of bribes tied to a defence deal.

It is healthy to see France taking the deaths of their nationals seriously enough to restore the dignity of the realtives who are entitled to the truth. The withheld truth about the 911 bombings mocks the bereaved of all nations' victims. An insult to our citizens by the government and media professionals -- to cover up for secret state elements of the US military who carried out the atrocities in New York and Washington.

Don't know if Bin Laden is alive or dead: foreign policy expert

By Peter Duveen

PETER'S NEW YORK, May 2, 2008--A scholar from a major American think tank said today it is not known whether Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi Arabian businessman and religious leader portrayed by the American government as being the impetus behind the events of 9-11, is still alive.

"It is possible that he is dead. We just don't know," said Richard Weitz, a senior fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Hudson Institute, in response to a listener's question on the program Washington Journal, aired on the cable news network C-SPAN.