Tapes show bin Laden as terror front man
Two messages from Osama bin Laden in a matter of days have revived the game of questions over his health and whereabouts but also made clear he is al-Qaeda's propaganda "top gun," able to draw attention in the West and strike a chord among sympathizers.
CAIRO, Egypt - Two messages from Osama bin Laden in a matter of days have revived the game of questions over his health and whereabouts but also made clear he is al-Qaeda's propaganda "top gun," able to draw attention in the West and strike a chord among sympathizers.
In a new video released yesterday, bin Laden's voice was heard commemorating one of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers, Waleed al-Shehri, and calling on young Muslims to follow his example in martyring themselves in attacks.
That came on the heels of a video released Saturday containing the first new images of the al-Qaeda leader in nearly three years. It showed bin Laden, 50, urging Americans to convert to Islam and railing against capitalism, globalization and democracy.
Both releases on Web sites used by Islamic extremists may be in part an attempt to use bin Laden's charisma to win over supporters in an audience of growing importance to al-Qaeda: Muslim converts and immigrants from Muslim countries living in the West, particularly Europe.
Extremists from both groups have been implicated in several plots inside Europe in recent years, and the antiglobalization rhetoric could be aimed at giving disenchanted Muslims there further reason to join his cause.
The two videos, timed to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, also made a splash in the United States at a time the presidential campaign and falling support for the war in Iraq have prompted a debate on how America should be fighting terrorism.
U.S. intelligence agencies, meanwhile, are poring over bin Laden's messages, looking for clues to his health and location. Little was immediately evident, except for his new beard - dyed a dark black from the mostly gray of previous videos.
The images in Saturday's video were clearly made at least since June, because bin Laden mentioned British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took office that month, and perhaps done as recently as early August.
Because bin Laden's image moves for only a few minutes in the first tape and not at all in the second, some raised questions about his health.