U.S. Concludes Voice on Tape is bin Laden’s

U.S. Concludes Voice on Tape is bin Laden’s

Analysis provides strongest evidence that he’s alive

MSNBC
November 18, 2002

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 - U.S. intelligence has concluded that an audiotape of Osama bin Laden broadcast last week is real and was recently recorded, providing the first evidence in almost a year that the al-Qaida leader is alive, a White House spokesman said Monday. The audiotape, first broadcast on an Arab-language TV network, does not appear to have been altered or edited, suggesting it is what it sounds like: bin Laden promising more terrorism.

"Our intelligence experts do believe that the tape is genuine. It cannot be stated with 100 percent certainty. It is clear that the tape was made in the last several weeks," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

The analysis of the tape was performed by technical experts, linguists and translators at the CIA and National Security Agency, who compared the message to previous recordings of bin Laden.

Because it mentions recent terrorist attacks, officials concluded it was made in the last few weeks, the official said. U.S. intelligence had not received any definitive evidence in a year that bin Laden had survived the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan in response to the attacks in Washington, D.C., and New York on Sept. 11, 2001.

The tape gives little clue to bin Laden's location or his health, other U.S. officials said. Although his whereabouts are unknown, U.S. officials believe he is probably hiding in a remote mountainous region in the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The message was a determining factor in a new spate of terror alerts in the United States and elsewhere last week. Previous public statements from bin Laden have served as preludes to terrorist attacks, officials said.

ALLEGED AL-QAIDA DOCUMENT

The tape was first played last Tuesday on the satellite news station Al-Jazeera. An Al-Jazeera correspondent said Saturday that he received an alleged al-Qaida document threatening more attacks in New York and Washington unless America stops supporting Israel and converts to Islam.

Yosri Fouda said he received the unsigned, six-page document on Wednesday.

In Washington, Homeland Security adviser Tom Ridge downplayed the document. "There are no new threats, there are the same old conditions. It's just part of the continuing threat environment that we assess," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

Fouda would not say how he received the statement, but insisted he was certain it came from the terrorist movement's leadership.

Fouda said the statement called on Americans to stop supporting Israel and other governments that "oppress" Muslims or face more attacks. The statement also called on Americans to convert to Islam, he said.

"Stop your support for Israel against the Palestinians, for Russians against the Chechens ... for corrupt leaders in our countries ... (and) leave us alone or expect us in Washington and New York," Fouda quoted the statement as saying.

JUSTIFICATION FOR KILLING CIVILIANS

He added the statement demanded U.S. troops leave the Arabian Peninsula, and justified the killings of American civilians because they pay taxes that finance military operations.

"The American people are the financiers of the attacks against us; they are watching - through their elected senators - the spending of taxes that pay for planes bombing us in Afghanistan, armies occupying our land in the Arabian Peninsula, tanks (used) against the Palestinians and fleets putting Iraqi children under siege," the statement said, according to Fouda.

Fouda is a prominent Arab television journalist who has broken several important stories about al-Qaida. In September, Al-Jazeera broadcast Fouda's interviews with two top al-Qaida operatives hiding in Pakistan, Ramzi Binalshibh and Khaled Sheik Mohammed. Binalshibh was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, shortly after the broadcast and was transferred to U.S. custody.

Fouda said the statement also referred to the current crisis between the United States and Iraq as one more reason to attack Americans.

"You are placing Muslims under siege in Iraq, where children die every day. Oh, how weird that you don't care for 1.5 million Iraqi children who died under siege, but when 3,000 of your compatriots died, the whole world was shaken," Fouda quoted the statement as saying.

In recent weeks, the FBI has issued warnings about possible attacks on U.S. railroads and on the energy industry, as well as a more general warning about heightened risk during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started Wednesday and ends Dec. 5.

"We're especially sensitive to time frames which might be thought by the enemy to be a time when they might want to make a statement," Attorney General John Ashcroft said.

On Wednesday, the FBI told authorities in Houston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington to be aware of threats against hospitals. Even though that threat was assigned low credibility by senior law enforcement officials, the FBI is preferring to err on the side of caution in terms of giving out information, officials said.

The idea is to increase vigilance among local police and people working in industries that are potential targets.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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