And, according to Iranians I trust, Osama bin Laden 
    finally departed this world in mid-December. The al Qaeda 
    leader died of kidney failure and was buried in Iran, 
    where he had spent most of his time since the destruction 
    of al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The Iranians who reported 
    this note that this year's message in conjunction with 
    the Muslim Haj came from his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri,
    for the first time.