Chinese Online Class - Groups: Bin Laden plans video on 9/11

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WORLD / Newsmaker

Groups: Bin Laden plans video on 9/11

(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-07 06:36

CAIRO, Egypt - Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden plans a new video to be
released in the coming days ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept.
11 attacks, his first new message in more than a year, al-Qaida's media
arm announced Thursday.

This undated photo shows al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden will address Americans on the sixth anniversary of the 9/11
attacks with a new video, Al-Qaida's media arm announced. [AP]

Analysts noted that al-Qaida tends to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary with
a slew of messages, and the Department of Homeland Security said it had
no credible information warning of an imminent threat to the United
States.

Still, bin Laden's appearance would be significant. The al-Qaida leader
has not appeared in new video footage since October 2004, and he has not
put out a new audiotape in more than a year, his longest period without a
message.

One difference in his appearance was immediately obvious. The
announcement had a still photo from the coming video, showing bin Laden
addressing the camera, his beard fully black. In his past videos, bin
Laden's beard was almost entirely gray with dark streaks.

Bin Laden's beard appears to have been dyed, a popular practice among
Arab leaders, said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, a
Washington-based group that monitors terror messages.

"I think it works for their (al-Qaida's) benefit that he looks young, he
looks healthy," Katz said.

The announcement and photo appeared in a banner advertisement on an
Islamic militant Web site where al-Qaida's media arm, Al-Sahab,
frequently posts messages.

"Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, God
preserve him," the advertisement read, signed by Al-Sahab. Such
announcements are usually put out one to three days before the video is
posted on the Web.

IntelCenter, which monitors Islamic Web sites and analyzes terror
threats, said the video was expected within the next 72 hours, before the
sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 suicide hijacker attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The anniversary has always been a major media event for al-Qaida - a
chance for it to drum up support among extremists, tout itself as the
leading militant group and show off its continued survival.

"They've always gone out of their way to commemorate it," said Ben
Venzke, chief executive officer of IntelCenter, which is based in
Alexandria, Va. "Historically the anniversary of 9-11 has never been
drawn to attacks. It's drawn to video releases."

But the fact that bin Laden is delivering the message is significant, he
said. Whether the message will indicate a potential attack will depend on
what bin Laden says.

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said he could not confirm the
existence of a tape, "and there is no credible information at this time
warning of an imminent threat to the homeland." But he said increased
activity overseas and recent arrests of militants in Germany reinforce
the department's assessment that the country is currently in a period of
increased risk.

If bin Laden does appear in new footage, it would be the first images of
him since an Oct. 29, 2004 videotape, just before the U.S. presidential
elections. In that appearance three years ago, he said America could
avoid another 9-11 style attack if it stopped threatening Muslims.

The new video would also end the longest period bin Laden has gone
without releasing a message. His last audiotape was on July 1, 2006, in
which he welcomed new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq succeeding the slain Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi.

Bin Laden went silent for a similar long stretch before?- from Dec. 28,
2004 to Jan. 19, 2006. That absence sparked widespread speculation he was
ill, wounded or possibly dead.

There has been little such speculation since then. U.S. officials have
repeatedly said over the past year they believe the al-Qaida leader is
alive. He is thought to be hiding in the tribal regions of western
Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan.

During bin Laden's silence, his deputy Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri has
been frequently issuing videos and audiotapes.

Al-Zawahri appeared in a 2006 video marking the 9-11 anniversary. An
anniversary video in 2003 showed footage of bin Laden and al-Zawahri
walking through mountain paths, with voice-over messages from both
leaders.

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