Alleged bin Laden tape aired; warns of more attacks

CAIRO, Egypt -- The Arab satellite station al-Jazeera broadcast an audiotape Sunday in which a male voice attributed to Osama bin Laden said the "youths of God" are planning more attacks against the United States.

"By God, the youths of God are preparing for you things that would fill your hearts with terror and target your economic lifeline until you stop your oppression and aggression" against Muslims, said the voice in the audiotape.

There was no way to verify whether the person speaking on the tape was bin Laden, or when the recording was made. The short message was broadcast with a photograph of bin Laden in the background.

Al-Jazeera chief editor Ibrahim Helal told The Associated Press by telephone that the station received the tape two hours before the Sunday evening broadcast. He refused to say how the tape was received.

"We had no doubt this was bin Laden. It was not only the tone of the voice but also the way he spoke and the logic of the message," Helal said.

He said the fact the message was so brief "showed that the man (bin Laden) was in tough circumstances and does not have a chance to talk."

Qatar-based al-Jazeera has become known for its broadcast of audio and videotapes of al-Qaida leaders.

Bin Laden had not been heard from since shortly after the U.S.-led bombing campaign began in Afghanistan last October.

In the recording broadcast Sunday, the man said his message was addressed to the American people, whom he urged to "understand the message of the New York and Washington attacks which came in response to some of your previous crimes."

Those who initiated the attacks "are the ones who brought injustice," he said.

"But those who follow the activities of the band of criminals in the White House, the Jewish agents, who are preparing for an attack on the Muslim world ... feel that you have not understood anything from the message of the two attacks," he said.

"So let America increase the pace of this conflict or decrease it, and we will respond in kind," he said.

The reference appeared to be to the U.S.-Iraq confrontation many believe will lead to war, which would date the tape to recent weeks. The reference, however, could have been to another conflict.

Al-Jazeera said one of its correspondents conducted an interview in June with two top al-Qaida fugitives was aired to correspond with the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Shortly afterward, U.S. officials announced one of the fugitives had been captured in Pakistan.

American officials have called the network biased in its coverage of the war on terrorism, the Israeli-Arab conflict and U.S. Mideast policy. Al-Jazeera journalists say they strive to tell all sides of events from the Arab and Muslim point of view, and they have angered Arab governments as often as they have Washington.

The U.S. State Department had no immediate reaction to the tape.

The satellite station, initially funded by the Qatari government, began operations in November 1996. It is editorially independent of the government, which has its own official station to broadcast its point of view.