Tape suggests bin Laden back in action

AN audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden threatening more terror against America and its allies has US officials concerned that the long-absent terrorist leader has re-emerged to direct new al-Qaida attacks.

American counter-terrorism officials believe a new audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden is probably authentic and are treating it as evidence the terrorist leader is still alive.

“It’s probably his voice, although cannot be said with absolute certainty,” said an official.

At the White House, President George W Bush told congressional leaders the taped statement was “timely”, suggesting bin Laden is alive. Mr Bush told Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate that the initial analysis was not definitive, said House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

A senior defence official said analysts informed the Pentagon that a study of the tape indicates it is bin Laden’s voice.

Analysis by the CIA and National Security Agency shows bin Laden likely recording the tape, but officials said the full analysis to match bin Laden’s voice to previous recordings of him continues.

“Assuming it is in fact authentic, it is an effort to boost morale among the rank and file,” the official said. “It is an effort to show members of al-Qaida that top leadership is still around. It could also signal future attacks.”

The speaker on the tape threatened fresh attacks against the US, Britain and other allies, and he castigated Washington’s policy toward Iraq.

Confirmation bin Laden is alive could pose problems for Bush, underscoring to an anxious public that the war on terror is far from over.

The tape is addressed to “peoples of the countries allied with the tyrannical US government” and specifically mentions Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany, Australia and Israel.

“What business do your governments have to ally themselves with the gang of criminality in the White House against Muslims? Don’t your governments know that the White House gang is the biggest serial killers in this age?” the speaker says.

The tape seems to have been made in the past two weeks. The speaker appears to refer to the killing of a US diplomat in Jordan on October 28.

He also praises six terrorist attacks by suspected Islamic militants between April and October, including the bombing of a nightclub in Bali on October 12, that killed nearly 200 people, and the Chechen take-over of a Moscow theatre in late October.

The voice also gets personal, attacking not only Bush, but calling US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “the butcher of Vietnam” and comparing Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell to marauding Mongols.