US intelligence authorities have informed the White House that
the audiotape attributed to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was
authentic, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on
Sunday.
"The al-Qaida leadership is on the run and under a lot of
pressure," McClellan said at a Marine base in Twenty-nine Palms,
California, where Bush was having lunch with military families.
"We are on the advance. They are on the run," he said.
The remarks were made in response to bin Laden's new threats on
an audiotape broadcast on the pan-Arab television al-Jazeera, in
which he accused the United States and Europe of supporting a
"Zionist" war on Islam by cutting off funds to the Hamas-led
Palestinian government.
In the tape, bin Laden also urged followers to go to Sudan, his
former base, to fight a proposed UN peacekeeping force.
It was the first message by the al-Qaida leader for three
months. The voice on the tape sounded strong and resembled that on
other recordings attributed to bin Laden.
Reports here said al-Jazeera appeared to have had the tape long
enough to make significant edits, with its news reader providing
background comments. The network broadcast about five minutes of
the tape in all.
In Washington, US intelligence officials said bin Laden was
living separately from his lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahri.
The al-Qaida chieftain, who last issued a message broadcast by
al-Jazeera on January 19, also made a point of trying to justify
attacks on civilians.
He said citizens of Western countries were equally responsible
with their governments for what he termed the "war on Islam."
(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2006)
