Don t even dream of security, bin Laden tells US

OSAMA bin Laden vowed in an undated videotape aired last night that the United States would not see security as long as Palestinians did not enjoy peace.

Bin Laden, accused by Washington of being behind the 11 September attacks on the United States, did not explicitly admit any role in the attacks but vowed that Muslims would continue to fight despite the greater military power of their enemies.

"America will not even dream of security if we do not see it as a tangible reality in Palestine, the land of the two holy shrines [Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia] and all Muslim land," said bin Laden in the videotape broadcast by al-Jazeera satellite television.

"We heralded to you a few weeks ago that your brethren have come out carrying their heads on their hands aspiring to die in God’s way, so I pray God to give them victory and make them hit their targets," he said in what appeared to be a speech to his followers ahead of the attacks.

"[These] men who went out [to wage holy war] truly believe that what God offers is better than what is in this life."

Bin Laden’s speech and one by a man identified as one of the hijackers - believed to be Ahmed Ibrahim A Alhaznawi - were interspersed with footage of men galloping across the desert waving Kalashnikov assault rifles.

According to the US, Alhaznawi was one of four hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

It is not clear when the tape was made; some of the references were old, others recent. The hijacker spoke against a background photograph of the World Trade Centre exploding in flames on the day he died - a picture presumably inserted by video engineers.

Al-Jazeera’s editor in chief, Ibrahim Hilal, said he did not know when the tape was made, "but it seems very recent". He said that in one part of the hour-long tape, not broadcast last night, a narrator referred to the Arab summit of 27-28 March as coming up shortly.

Al-Jazeera had said that it would broadcast the full tape yesterday, but appeared to have changed its mind - the presenter said only "parts" of the tape were shown last night.

Al-Jazeera broadcast excerpts from the tape on Monday. Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, said then that the tape seemed to be "a patchwork of clips from previous periods along with some dialogue of more recent periods". The quality of the tape aired last night was uneven. While the hijacker’s speech appeared to be a careful studio production, the sound of bin Laden speaking in a field was often inaudible, overwhelmed by wind.

Most of the tape was an anti-US tirade delivered by Alhaznawi, who is introduced as a Saudi citizen and mosque preacher who emigrated to Afghanistan "because his heart was linked to holy war.

"What [kind of] life would I live when the American soldier defends me ... What kind of glory, what kind of dignity ... when I live under American rule in the country of the two holy places?" Alhaznawi said, referring to Mecca and Medina. While he focused on America as enemy No 1, he also tried to drum up support for Muslim causes. "Look at Palestine, which has been bleeding for more than half a century and is still bleeding," he said. "Look at Kashmir."