by Dan De Luce
WASHINGTON - The US government is analyzing a copy of the latest video message said to be made by elusive Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, top US officials said Friday.
"I can confirm that USG has the video and it is currently being analyzed," a senior US administration official told AFP, referring to the US government.
Bin Laden is said to have made a new videotape to mark Tuesday`s anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks blamed on his Al-Qaeda terror network.
The video, reported late Thursday by US services that monitor militant websites, would be the first such appearance by the Saudi extremist since October 2004, when he threatened new attacks against the United States just days before a US election.
The Al-Qaeda network`s media arm, as-Sahab, announced the video in a notice posted on jihadist forums at about 2115 GMT, according to SITE, a group which monitors extremist websites.
"Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheikh Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the notice in Arabic read.
A website used by Islamist militants that carried the notice showed a photo of bin Laden in which his black beard did not have the usual streaks of gray.
He was also not wearing a camouflage jacket as in some previous appearances. Instead, the top-half photo showed him wearing a white robe topped by a beige cloak, similar to the traditional dress of men in the Gulf region, and looking more like a Muslim cleric than a fighter.
The video of the soft-spoken Al-Qaeda leader, who has claimed credit for the 9/11 attacks, will be examined intently with every word and visual detail dissected by intelligence agencies in Washington and around the world.
Bin Laden, who has had a number of audiotapes attributed to him since his last video appearance, has avoided capture since the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people.
He has since inspired an eruption of anti-Western attacks while his Al-Qaeda network has repeatedly threatened to attack US targets again.
Frances Townsend, the US president`s homeland security adviser, said any video message would be followed closely and that the capture of bin Laden remained a top priority.
"Obviously, it`s a huge priority for us to capture and kill bin Laden and bring he and the rest of the leadership to justice," she told CNN television Thursday.
"We`re being manipulated every time that they issue a statement, because they`re trying to use the media as a way to terrorize us."
While other senior figures had been tracked down, "there is no greater target on our Al-Qaeda list than bin Laden," Townsend said.
She said that while public statements from Al-Qaeda were monitored, authorities were most concerned about disrupting terrorist conspiracies.
"What I take far more seriously are the plots," she said, citing recent arrests in Germany and Denmark involving alleged terrorist threats.
President George W. Bush declared a "war on terror" after 9/11 and said he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive," but the Al-Qaeda chief disappeared after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan to topple Al-Qaeda`s Taliban allies.
He has since popped up on videos and audio messages to rail against the United States and its allies.
Widely believed to have slipped away during a December 2001 battle in Afghanistan`s Tora Bora mountains, bin Laden is now thought to be hiding in the remote tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Another US-based monitor of extremist websites, IntelCenter, said Thursday it expected the video to be released within 72 hours. It noted that as-Sahab usually releases one video or more to commemorate the 9/11 attacks.
Indeed, "a release by Osama bin Laden has been expected for much of this year," it said.
Separate from the notice promoting bin Laden`s latest video message, monitors said an extremist forum included a reference to a "gift" coming on the 9/11 anniversary.
An analyst at the SITE Intelligence Group said the "gift" was most likely referring to the bin Laden video or another online propaganda item and not an imminent attack on US soil.
Born in 1957 in Saudi Arabia into a family that originated from Yemen, bin Laden fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and embraced the idea of Muslims uniting against the West.
In Afghanistan, he commanded and financed his own brigade of militants that evolved into Al-Qaeda.
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09/07/2007 16:35 GMT