Photo taken on May 3 shows bin Laden's portrait on the frontpage of a piece of newspaer sold in Lahore, Pakistan. Al-Qaida has confirmed its leader Osama bin Laden's death, reported local English TV channel Express on Friday afternoon. [Xinhua/Reuters]

Al-Qaida has confirmed its leader Osama bin Laden's death, reported local English TV channel Express on Friday afternoon.

The report said that al-Qaida confirmed its leader bin Laden's death in a statement posted on a Jihadist internet forum. However, the report failed to mention when this statement was issued and when and how bin Laden died.

Despite the announcement by the United States about the killing of Osama bin Laden in a compound in Pakistan's northwestern city of Abbottabad in an early Monday morning's military operation conducted by the U.S. special task force, doubts about the death of the world's most wanted terrorist still exist among many people as the U.S. side has refused to release the pictures of the body of Osama bin Laden.

The fact that the U.S. side hurriedly buried the dead body of Osama bin Laden at sea as it claimed is also a factor contributing to the doubt about the death of bin Laden.

Many people in Pakistan believe that the killing of Osama bin Laden is a propaganda and there were local media reports saying that Osama bin Laden was killed long time ago.