Yes, he's back, just like American Idol.

quote:

By HASSAN FATTAH, DOUGLAS JEHL and CHRISTINE HAUSER Published: January 19, 2006 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 19 - The Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera broadcast an audiotape today by Osama bin Laden, in which he said that more attacks against the United States were being prepared, while offering the possibility of a truce under unspecified conditions. This afternoon, an official of the Central Intelligence Agency said it had authenticated the voice of the tape as that of Mr. bin Laden. It was not immediately clear when the tape was made, but it was the first tape by the leader of Al Qaeda to be released in about a year. The tape's release came after the United States launched an airstrike in a Pakistani village aimed at Mr. bin Laden's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Mr. bin Laden's voice sounded short-winded on the tape and lacked the charismatic tone typical of the Al Qaeda leader's past recordings. Al Jazeera carried excerpts from the audiotape on its Web site, english.aljazeera.net. According to the tape, Mr. bin Laden threatened the United States with attacks inside the country, saying preparations for them were under way. He also offered a conditional "long-term truce." An American counterterrorism official said it would be a mistake to view the release of the audiotape as a response to the American airstrike in Pakistan last Friday that was aimed at Mr. Zawahiri. Nevertheless, the American official said analysts within the United States government were struck by the timing of the release of the tape, particularly since it followed a 13-month void in public statements by Mr. Bin Laden. The official said it was possible that Mr. Bin Laden's associates had timed the release to reassure his followers that he was still alive at a time when it remains uncertain whether Mr. Zawahiri himself survived that attack. Pakistani officials have said they believe that Mr. Zawahiri was not at the site of the attack, but that as many as four other senior Al Qaeda members, including Mr. Zawahiri's son-in-law, were killed. American officials have said those four Al Qaeda members may well have been at the scene, but they say it is too early to know whether they were killed. "The timing is interesting and curious to say the least," the American counterterrorism official said. The official said the tape might be "an attempt to demonstrate that Bin Laden his still around, and a force to be reckoned with, sending a reassuring message to the jihadist community at a time when there are questions about Zawahiri's fate." The American counterterrorism official said that Mr. Bin Laden's offer of a truce echoed previous similar offers, as did his warning that preparations for a new attack on American targets were under way. But the official said the United States government was taking those warnings seriously. A second American counterterrorism official echoed that thought, saying "You don't ignore threats from Osama Bin Laden." The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not been authorized to speak on the record. The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said today that the tape showed that Al Qaeda was "on the run." Mr. McClellan said that American intelligence agencies were seeking to determine whether the tape provided clues about Al Qaeda's operations. "If there is any actionable intelligence, we will act on it," he said. As for Mr. Bin Laden's offer of a truce, Mr. McClellan said, "We do not negotiate with terrorists." The last time that Mr. bin Laden was heard from in a taped message was in December 2004, in which he called for Iraqis to boycott the elections in January 2005. After that tape was broadcast, President Bush took the unusual step of responding to one of the Al Qaeda leader's messages, declaring that the call by Mr. bin Laden made the stakes in the Iraqi elections clear. Mr. Bush's comments at the time were unusual because, after having declared soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that he wanted Mr. bin Laden "dead or alive," the president has usually avoided mentioning him. Mr. Bush's aides have said it would be a strategic error to respond to every one of Mr. bin Laden's threats or to seem to elevate his status by putting him in a long-distance debate with the president. But Mr. Bush has previously used the Al Qaeda leader's remarks to make the case that the world is still a dangerous place and that Mr. bin Laden should continue to be pursued. On Wednesday, Pakistan's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, said that nobody knows where the top two leaders of Al Qaeda are. "The simple answer is that nobody has a clue," he said in an interview in New York City. Mr. bin Laden has also previously turned his attention to his Saudi homeland, accusing the ruling al-Saud dynasty of being the "agents of infidels" in a tape in December 2004 and applauding an attack last week against the United States Consulate in Jidda. Hassan Fattah reported from Dubai for this article, Douglas Jehl from Washington, and Christine Hauser from New York.

>source

Link to full text message here.

___________________

Last edited by sensorium on Jan-19-2006 at 21:11