Bin Laden hails attack on US consulate

A MAN identified as Osama bin Laden has praised an attack earlier this month on a US consulate in Saudi Arabia and criticised the Saudi regime as weak and controlled by the United States.

The Western world’s most wanted terror mastermind called on his fighters to strike Gulf oil supplies and warned Saudi leaders they risked a popular uprising in an audio message on an Islamist website.

Washington said intelligence analysts were not immediately able to verify the authenticity of the recording posted on an Islamist website but the White House was quick to voice defiance.