French President Jacques Chirac has ordered an inquiry into the leak of a French intelligence service document quoted in the report, which was carried in L'Est Republicain, a French regional newspaper.
The document stated that Saudi secret services were now convinced that Osama Bin Laden had died of typhoid in Pakistan in late August.
Officials in Pakistan and the US said they could not confirm the report.
Saudi-born Bin Laden was believed to have been hiding the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan since the overthrow of the Taliban government in Afghanistan by US-backed forces in 2001.
The US has accused Bin Laden of involvement in the September the eleventh attacks in the United States five years ago and has hunted for him unsuccessfully ever since.
The last verifiable message from Bin Laden was posted on the internet on July the first and accused Iraqi Shi'ites of waging "genocide" against Sunnis.