Bin Laden to taunt US again in video marking 9/11

UNITED STATES: Osama Bin Laden plans to emerge from the shadows to taunt the United States again in a video message marking the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, US-based monitoring services said on Thursday.

The video from the world's most wanted man would be the first such appearance by the Saudi extremist since October 2004, when he threatened new attacks against the United States just days before a US election.

"The SITE Intelligence Group has learned that a new video message is forthcoming from the head of Al-Qaeda" on the 9/11 anniversary, said the group, which monitors extremist websites and publications.

The Al-Qaeda network's media arm, al-Sahab, announced the video in a notice posted on jihadist forums at about 5:15 pm according to SITE.

"Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the notice read.

The video of the soft-spoken Al-Qaeda leader who has claimed credit for the 9/11 attacks will be examined intently with every word and visual detail dissected by intelligence agencies in Washington and around the world.

Bin Laden has avoided capture since the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people and jolted American society. He has since inspired an eruption of anti-Western terrorism while his Al-Qaeda network has repeatedly threatened to attack US targets again.

The United States said any video message would be followed closely and said the capture of Bin Laden remained a top priority.

"Obviously, it's a huge priority for us to capture and kill Bin Laden and bring he and the rest of the leadership to justice," said Frances Townsend, the US president's homeland security adviser.

Townsend told CNN television the video and previous Al-Qaeda statements were designed as propaganda to spread fear among Americans.

"We're being manipulated every time that they issue a statement, because they're trying to use the media as a way to terrorize us," she said.

Asked about the US failure to capture Bin Laden, Townsend said: "Well, it's not for a lack of resources devoted against that task."

While other senior figures had been tracked down, "there is no greater target on our Al-Qaeda list than Bin Laden," Townsend said.

If the video message appears, "we will look at things like, what is his appearance, what does he reference?".

She said that while public statements from Al-Qaeda were monitored, authorities were most concerned about disruping terrorist conspiracies.

"His public statements aren't really horribly important to me. We take them seriously, we run them down, we look at them for threats," Townsend said. The US Congress recently increased the reward for his capture to 50 million dollars but Bush rarely talks of nabbing Bin Laden.

Washington, Friday, AFP