al-Qaida tape appears genuine, says US official

AN audio tape of Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's fugitive second in command, appears to be genuine and to have been recorded in the last few weeks, a US official said yesterday.

In the tape, al-Zawahri threatens new attacks on the US and its economy.

References to current events in the tape obtained on Tuesday by Associated Press Television News are a clear sign that al-Zawahri is alive, the official said in Washington on condition of anonymity.

The voice recording would be the first proof that al-Zawahri survived the US bombing in Afghanistan launched a year ago. US officials say they don't know if al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is alive, but in recent months US troops have been scouring the remote border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The tape was probably made in the last few weeks but could have been made as early as August, the official said.

In the tape, al-Zawahri refers to a July 1 US bombing in Afghanistan and speaks about the US campaign against Iraq, accusing Washington of seeking to subjugate the Arab world on behalf of Israel.

The recording was obtained by APTN in the form of a video compact disc. On the disc, an interview with al-Zawahri is played against a video backdrop with English subtitles of the conversation, along with scenes from the September 11 attacks and other news footage.

Al-Zawahri, 50, is believed to be bin Laden's doctor and spiritual adviser, providing the ideology that drove al-Qaida.

In the recording, al-Zawahri said the US should "expect to be treated the same way it has acted", pointing to suffering of Muslims in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.