The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation has admitted that it blundered in its construction of a photograph of Osama bin Laden, intended to show how he might look today at the age of 52. Spanish newspaper El Mundo is reporting that an FBI technician used some of the features of a Spanish politician in a new computer-generated picture of the al-Qaeda leader.

The FBI technician was apparently not satisfied with the solutions offered for hair by the computer program the FBI uses, so he selected features from a photograph he found on the internet. But the hair and forehead he used belonged to Gaspar Llamazares, the chairman of the small left-wing Izquierda Unida faction. Mr Llamazares is demanding that the Spanish government make an official objection to the US authorities.

The FBI has since admitted its mistake and removed the photograph from its website.

FBI's Osama bin Laden (left) and Gaspar Llamazares (right)

Photo by El Mundo