Bin Laden praises ‘lion of holy war’
He also urged US President George Bush to release the body of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and said Jordan should allow the slain terrorist to be buried in his homeland.
In the 19-minute message, bin Laden paid tribute to al-Zarqawi and said the former al-Qaida in Iraq leader had been under orders to kill Iraqis who supported US forces in the country. He also vowed more attacks against the US in the Middle East and Africa.
The 19-minute message shows an old still photo of bin Laden in a split-screen next to images of al-Zarqawi taken from a previous video.
A voice resembling bin Laden’s narrates a tribute to the Jordanian-born militant, who was killed in a June 7 air strike north east of Baghdad.
“Our Islamic nation was surprised to find its knight, the lion of jihad (holy war), the man of determination and will, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed in a shameful American raid,” bin Laden said.
It was the fourth message put out this year by al-Qaida leader bin Laden. All have featured his voice in audiotapes. New video images of him have not appeared since October 2004.
The videos appear to be part of an attempt by al-Qaida’s central leadership to tout their connection to al-Zarqawi, who emerged as a hero among Islamic extremists with his dramatic attacks against Shi’ites and Westerners in Iraq. However, White House press secretary Tony Snow said: “It’s another bin Laden audio tape. It is what it is.”
Mr Snow said the White House had no comment on bin Laden’s request that the United States return al-Zarqawi’s body to his family.
The Jordanian government has said it will never allow al-Zarqawi to be buried in his homeland because of a November triple suicide bombing his followers carried out in Amman hotels, killing 60 people.
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