Al-Qaida’s American-born spokesman urged fighters to greet US President George Bush with bombs not flowers when he visits the Middle East this week, according to a video posted on the internet today.

An Arab television station has broadcast previously unseen footage of a smiling Osama bin Laden meeting the top planners of the September 11 attacks in an Afghan mountain camp and calling on followers to pray for the hijackers as they carried out the suicide mission.