Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden warned the American people over their government's close ties with Israel in an apparently new audio tape posted on an Islamist Web site on Monday. "The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," Bin Laden's latest tape said.
The message, entitled "A statement to the American people", was around 11 minutes long and was posted a few days after the eighth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify its authenticity but the Web site often is used by supporters of al-Qaida.
In the tape, the Al-Qaida leader said there had been no real change in American policy because U.S. President Barack Obama had retained people like U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates from the administration of former President George W. Bush.
The Web site had said earlier this month it would soon carry a "present" to Muslims from bin Laden on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.
The tape made reference to Obama's speech in Cairo in June, suggesting the message was recorded afterwards. The speaker also appeared to refer to criticisms former U.S. President Jimmy Carter made in June of Israel's Gaza invasion earlier this year.
| Why am I not surprised to see that tool be utilized by bin Laden? |