Washington Gets the All Clear, Bin Laden Not in Town

Rest assured, Washingtonians. Usama bin Laden is not residing in the nation's capital.

That's the word from the State Department following Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's attempt to toy with America's sense of security during an ABC interview that aired Wednesday morning.

"I heard that Usama bin Laden is in Washington, D.C.," the head of the Islamic regime responded when asked repeatedly whether the Al Qaeda leader was roaming freely in Iran.

But it's OK to exhale; State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley says it's not true.

"Over the past few hours, we've done an intensive search here at the Department of State -- every nook and cranny, every rock, and we can safely report that Usama bin Laden is not here," Crowley said at the end of his opening announcements in his daily briefing.

Asked if a check had been done of the greater Washington area, Crowley, relieved by the laughter elicited from the comment, said no, but he's "pretty confident" Ahmadinejad is inaccurate.

Pressed about reports that bin Laden is in Iran, Ahmadinejad told ABC, "Maybe you know, but I don't know."

Then Ahmadinejad contended that bin Laden is in D.C., at the behest of a former U.S. president.

"He's there because he was a previous partner of Mr. Bush. They were colleagues, in fact, in the old days. You know that? They worked together. Mr. Bin Laden never cooperated with Iran, but he cooperated with Mr. Bush," the Iranian president said.