‘New bin Laden tape’ found by Afghan soldiers

Afghan soldiers have discovered a video tape related to Osama bin Laden in a village south of Kabul, officials said today.

The tape was found in the village of Kulangar in Logar province, officials from the Ministry of Information and Culture said.

They had no details on the content of the tape but said it related to bin Laden. They did not say when the tape was found.

The tape is in the custody of officials in Logar province and is expected to be delivered shortly to the Intelligence Ministry in Kabul, the capital, for analysis, said officials.

United States Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told Fox News Sunday in Washington that he had no information on the tape.

‘‘I just heard about it for the first time this morning,’’ he said.

US soldiers in Afghanistan are hunting for bin Laden, accused by Washington of masterminding the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.

Bin Laden appeared has on a number of video tapes in which he revelled in the September 11 terror attacks and inveighed against the West, but there have been no recent recordings of him.