Tape Indicates bin Laden Speaking in First Half of December

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 27, 2001

Tape Indicates bin Laden Speaking in First Half of December

A Qatar-based television station on Wednesday aired part of a videotape of Osama bin Laden, in which the most-wanted man said the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington were intended to stop U.S. support for Israel.

The Associated Press said the tape indicated that bin Laden was speaking in the first half of December.

The al-Jazeera satellite television, which aired excerpts of the tape, said it received the tape "a couple of days ago" by an air courier service from an anonymous sender in Pakistan.

The whole tape runs 33 minutes and will be shown on al-Jazeera on Thursday at 1830 GMT. In the excerpts aired, bin Laden condemned the United States as a nation that speaks about humanity and freedom but commits crimes against millions of Afghanis.