An audio tape said to have been recorded by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has praised a recent attack on a US consulate in Saudi Arabia. The recording, posted on an Islamic website, has not been verified. In the tape a speaker identified as Bin Laden is said to bless a group of Saudi militants who stormed the building in Jeddah on 6 December. The voice also blamed Saudi leaders for unrest in the kingdom, accusing them of "violating God's rules". "We ask God to be merciful with the mujahideen who stormed the US consulate in Jeddah," the speaker said in the recording, in excerpts quoted by Reuters news agency. Saudi-born Bin Laden has repeatedly called for the toppling of the kingdom's ruling family. "The responsibility for the current situation in Saudi Arabia rests with the regime," the recording said, according to AFP news agency. "In Saudi Arabia, it is the king and not Allah who commands sovereignty and complete obedience." The speaker said he had advised the government two decades ago to "remedy the situation", adding: "it has not changed at all".
Analysts say the voice and style of the speaker are similar to Bin Laden's. The last appearance of the militant leader was just before the US election on 2 November, in a video tape in which he threatened fresh attacks on the US, whoever was elected. He appeared in good health in the tape, but it was not clear when it was recorded. Bin Laden is widely believed to have been hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border since US-backed forces toppled Afghanistan's Taleban regime in late 2001.