US officials say that a new videotape of Osama bin Laden serves as a reminder of al-Qaeda's ability to command attention six years after the 11 September attacks even though the message contained no overt threats.
The US government said it obtained a copy of the tape after an Islamist Web site disclosed it would soon show a new video of bin Laden, the first in nearly three years.
An official said a transcript of the tape indicates bin Laden opened with praise to Allah and his ‘law of retaliation’, but it contained no overt threat.
They said the tape was nearly 30 minutes long and there were references, such as US involvement in the Iraq war that may mean the tape is from 2007.
A still photograph of bin Laden shows the al-Qaeda leader looking older than in previously available pictures. However, a photo that Western analysts said accompanied the video announcement showed bin Laden's beard black rather than gray as in pictures from recent years.
Bin Laden was last seen in a video statement on the eve of the November 2004 US presidential election.
Since then, he has issued several audio messages, the last in July 2006 when he vowed al-Qaeda would fight the United States across the world.
Some intelligence officials and security analysts suspect bin Laden has limited his appearances to maximize their impact, perhaps saving his next one to coincide with a dramatic attack.
Others say bin Laden, aged 50 and believed to suffer from a serious kidney ailment, may be too sick or too tightly pinned down in his hiding place to smuggle out a tape.
US terrorism monitoring firm IntelCenter said the tape fits an al-Qaeda pattern of releasing one or more videos to commemorate the September 11 attacks, and a new tape featuring bin Laden had been expected for much of this year.
A year ago, a leaked French intelligence report said Saudi secret services thought bin Laden had died of typhoid in Pakistan but Saudi Arabia said such reports were mere speculation.
US led forces have been searching for bin Laden since they toppled Afghanistan's Taliban government after it refused to hand over the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks.
Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a mountainous, inaccessible region that US intelligence has described as a safe haven for al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
