Bin Laden rumored to be working on a book

Is Osama bin Laden writing a book? Rumors that he's working on a book called "Nidal" ("Struggle") have been circulating around the globe for several days now. These reports appear to have originated with unnamed Pakistani sources.

According to accounts from both Italian internet news site AKI and the Press Trust of India, bin Laden's book is a defense of Al Qaeda, a "response to 'negative propaganda and insufficient information' " about the group. Bin Laden is said to be writing in Arabic with the help of a younger writer of "Middle Eastern background" who will also translate the book into English.

Quoting from the Arab daily Al-Quds al-Arabi, the Italian news source says the book looks at "atrocities committed against Muslims by the West and how the Crusaders have harmed world development." The book is also said to blame the United States for the current crisis in global finance and to offer new information about the 9-11 attacks on the US.

Jihadica, an Internet site that serves as a clearinghouse for global information on jihadism, this weekend carried a similar report about the book linked to a Pakistani newspaper.

However, as US publishing industry newsletter Publishers Marketplace makes clear today, "no website or person considered close to bin Laden has confirmed the reports."