Bin Laden: I masterminded bombing attempt US intelligence: No you didn't

Published on Sunday 24 January 2010 22:22

OSAMA bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day in a new audio message released yesterday threatening more attacks on the US.

A senior US intelligence official in Washington said there is "no evidence whatsoever" that bin Laden had any involvement in the attack – or even knew about it beforehand.

The message suggests the al-Qaeda leader wants to appear in direct command of the terrorist group's many affiliates around the world at a time when some analysts have suggested he is more of a figurehead.

In the minute-long recording carried by al-Jazeera Arabic news channel, bin Laden addressed US president Barack Obama saying the Christmas attack was meant to send a message similar to that of the 11 September, 2001 attacks.

"The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of 11 September," he said. "America will never dream of security unless we will have it in reality in Palestine," he added.

"God willing, our raids on you will continue as long as your support for the Israelis continues."

On Christmas Day, Nigerian Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up his Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit Metro Airport. But the explosive powder he was hiding in his underwear failed to detonate.

He later told federal agents that he had been trained and given the explosives by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.

The US intelligence official said the Yemen-based group is linked with the central al-Qaeda group that bin Laden heads, and recent intelligence indicates that there are ongoing contacts between al-Qaeda in Yemen and Pakistan.

Bin Laden's message, coming long after AQAP gave its own claim of responsibility, appears to be an effort on his part to stay relevant, said Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside al-Qaeda: Global Network of Terror.

"The training and the definition of the attack was by the local leaders of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, so in many ways you can say bin Laden is exploiting this particular attack for his benefit ," he said. "Bin Laden still wants to claim leadership for the global jihad movement."

Of all the various offshoots and branches of al-Qaeda around the world, Mr Gunaratna said the group in Yemen is one of the closest to bin Laden since it is made up of bodyguards and associates of the organisation's top ideologues. Yemen is bin Laden's ancestral homeland.

"Today the operational relationship has suffered, but the ideological relationship is very strong and that is why bin Laden claimed this attack," he said.

Two of the group's top members were former detainees released in November 2007 from the US military prison Guantanamo Bay.

Since the Christmas Day attempt, the Yemeni government – at the urging of the US government – has stepped up its attacks on the group's hideouts in the rugged country's remote hinterland.

There is no way to confirm the voice on the audio message was actually that of bin Laden, but it resembled previous recordings attributed to him.

Bin Laden message

"The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of 11 September.

"If it was possible to carry our messages to you by words we wouldn't have carried them to you by planes.

"It is unfair you enjoy a safe life while our brothers in Gaza suffer greatly.

"America will never dream of security unless we will have it in reality in Palestine.

"God willing, our raids on you will continue as long as your support to the Israelis will continue."