'Not clear' when bin Laden video was made

It is still not clear when a newly-released tape showing Osama bin Laden was made.

Bin Laden, his top deputy and a man identified as a September 11 hijacker were shown in brief video excerpts aired today by a Gulf satellite TV station.

The deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, was shown claiming the terrorist attacks on the US were a ‘‘great victory.’’ It was not clear when the excerpts were made.

Al-Jazeera editor-in-chief Ibrahim Hilal said the excerpts were from an hour-long video, complete with narration and graphics, delivered by hand to the station’s Doha, Qatar offices a week ago.

‘‘I can’t tell you about when the material was made exactly but it seems very recent,’’ Hilal said, noting the narrator at one point refers to the March 27-28 Arab League summit as coming up shortly.

Al-Jazeera, known for airing bin Laden statements, showed only brief clips today and said it would air the complete tape on Thursday.

Hilal would not elaborate on how the channel got the tape, which Al-Jazeera said came with the title:

The wills of the New York and Washington Battle Martyrs.

The title shot included pictures of the 19 hijacking suspects. Hilal said the tape Al-Jazeera had showed only one of the 19 speaking.

‘‘We got it from our sources, it got to us. We are expecting other tapes from the same source, so it is not good to’’ reveal the source, Hilal said.

Hilal said the tape might be from inside Afghanistan.

In one of the excerpts aired today, bin Laden and al-Zawahri kneeled side-by-side before a lush background that appeared to be a photograph. Only al-Zawahri was shown speaking.

‘‘Those 19 brothers who went out and worked and sacrificed their lives for God, God granted this conquest that we enjoy today,’’ al-Zawahri said. ‘‘The great victory that was achieved was because of God’s help and not because of our efficiency or power.’’

The other excerpt showed the man identified as one of the September 11 hijackers speaking to the camera in a style similar to that in video-tapes made by Palestinian suicide bombers before attacks.

Al-Jazeera said in a press release that the tape indicated the attacker’s statement was recorded in Kandahar, Afghanistan, six months before September 11 ‘‘and is considered to be the first evidence linking bin Laden and al-Qaida network to the attacks.’’

While US officials have said for months they believed bin Laden and his al-Qaida network masterminded September 11, many in the Arab world had said the evidence was ambiguous.

Al Jazeera said it identified the hijacker as Ahmed Ibrahim Al Haznawi. US officials say he was one of four attackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

In the video, the suicide hijacker said: ‘‘It’s time to kill Americans in their heartland.’’

He wore military fatigues over a black shirt and a black-and-white checked scarf wrapped around his head. He sat before what appeared to be a photo montage showing the World Trade Centre in flames.

Al-Jazeera said that recording was made months before the attack, but did not explain how it reached that conclusion.

Al-Jazeera is a 24 hour station owned by Qatar’s government but known for a fairly independent editorial line. It reaches more than 35 million Arabs, including 150,000 in the United States.

The Arab satellite station repeatedly has broadcast exclusive footage of bin Laden making statements. Al-Jazeera also aired a video, released by the United States, showing the al-Qaida leader appearing to discuss the planning of the September 11 attacks.