Spanish Leftist Politician Flays FBI Over Bin Laden Photo

(RTTNews) - A Spanish leftist politician Tuesday charged the American internal investigative agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with knowingly taking his photograph from its files--some reports say, from Google Images--to create a digitally-enhanced picture of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Asserting that "apologies are not enough," Gaspar Llamazares, a deputy of the Communist-led United Left coalition, demanded that Washington should investigate the incident and act appropriately.

He said he did not believe in coincidences, and less so with American secret services, nor did he think the FBI came across his image by chance on Google.

"I am sure that in addition to incompetence, this is the sectarian and ideological use of law-enforcement, the heat of a preventive war," he added.

The FBI used the hair and forehead of Llamazares in a new computer-generated contemporary photo representation of Osama bin Laden for a new 'Wanted' poster, which appeared on the State Department's "Rewards-for-Justice" website for several hours offering a reward of up to $25 million before it was removed.

by RTT Staff Writer

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