TV report: Bin Laden’s video proved recent but contains no threat
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden speaks in a video released on a website Sept. 7, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Washington, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The video that allegedly belongs to Osama Bin Laden was found containing references to current events in the United States, showing it was recently made, said a TV report on Friday.
Quoting a government official on anonymity, CNN report said that the video mentioned some current events about U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, which could prove it was made as recently as this summer.
The intelligence officials are still verifying the video's authenticity, the report said.
However, the 30-minute video carried no overt threat to attack the U.S., it added.
Earlier the day, media reports said that the U.S. government had obtained the new video that was allegedly made by Bin Laden to mark the 6th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff remained amphibolous about the reports, only saying the government would follow a standard procedure to analyze any tapes it receives.
Bin Laden, who tops the U.S. wanted list, has disappeared from video since October 2004 when he was last seen in a video statement before the 2004 U.S. presidential election. His last audiotape was released in July 2006, in which he vowed to fight the United States across the world.
He returned to the screen on Thursday when U.S. officials found on militant websites an Arabic ad for the new video that was set to be released to mark anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
However, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said later Thursday that U.S. government had received no "credible information" about any imminent threat to the country.
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Michael Hayden told another story to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Friday.
"Our analysts assess with high confidence that al-Qaida's central leadership is planning high impact plots against the American homeland," he said.
He also said the terrorist group, accused of being behind the Sept. 11 attacks to the United States, was focusing on targets that "would produce mass casualties, dramatic destruction and significant economic aftershocks."
Report: Bin Laden proposes two ways to end Iraq war
Washington, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Osama bin Laden "suggested" two ways to end the war in Iraq in a new video statement made to mark the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, according to a transcript ABC News released on Friday.
After the initial technical analysis, intelligence officials said the voice on the new video was that of bin Laden.
TV: U.S. government analyzing Bin Laden's new video
Washington, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is analyzing a new video of Osama Bin Laden made for the 6th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said a TV report.
Quoting an anonymous government official, CNN said the video is undergoing assessment whether it really shows bin Laden, head of the al-Qaida group, and it is a new or old one.