Bin Laden was a US prisoner before being killed: Iran

TEHRAN: Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was a prisoner in US custody for "sometime" before he was killed by the American military, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday.

"I have exact information that bin Laden was held by the American military for sometime... until the day they killed him he was a prisoner held by them," the president said in a live interview on Iranian state television.

"Please pay attention. This is important. He was held by them for sometime. They made him sick and while he was sick they killed him," Ahmadinejad added.

He accused US President Barack Obama for announcing the Al-Qaeda leader's death for "political gain."

"What the US president has done is for domestic political gain. In other words, they killed him for Mr Obama's election and now they are seeking to replace him with someone else," Ahmadinejad said without elaborating.

Bin Laden was shot dead on May 2 in a US commando raid on a heavily fortified compound near Islamabad, Pakistan.

On May 4, Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi too had cast doubt on bin Laden's death, saying there were "ambiguities" over the way he was killed.

Ahmadinejad predicts oil at $150 a barrel

TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted that the price of crude oil will increase in future to $150 a barrel due to "political circumstances" and not market factors.

"The political circumstances are deciding the prices ... not the market ones," Ahmadinejad whose nation is the current president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) told reporters at a news conference.

"You asked me if I think the prices will increase? Yes the price of oil will increase. I think in a time frame it can reach around 150 dollars (a barrel)," he said without elaborating.

Iran is OPEC's second largest oil exporter.