The Associated Press
In this image taken from Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera, Osama bin Laden (right) listens as his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, speaks at an undisclosed location in a videotape broadcast by the station Monday. An Al-Jazeera editor said the excerpts were from an hour-long video, complete with narration and graphics, delivered by hand to the station's Doha, Qatar, offices a week ago.

Bin Laden, key aide, hijacker surface on tape

SARAH EL DEEB, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Tuesday, April 16, 2002

CAIRO -- Osama bin Laden and his top deputy were shown in a video excerpt aired Monday that also included a man identified as a Sept. 11 hijacker delivering what appeared to be a farewell message, saying "it's time to kill Americans in their heartland."

It wasn't clear when the tape, broadcast on the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera, was made. But the appearance of an apparent hijacker in one segment indicates that at least some parts of the video were filmed before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Al-Jazeera's editor in chief, Ibrahim Hilal, said the hourlong video, complete with narration and graphics, was delivered by hand to the station's Qatar offices a week ago.

"I can't tell you about when the material was made exactly, but it seems very recent," Hilal said, noting the narrator at one point refers to the March 27-28 Arab League summit as coming up shortly. Al-Jazeera, which has aired previous bin Laden statements, said it would broadcast the entire tape Thursday during a monthly documentary program called "Under the Microscope."

A 'great victory'

On Monday, the station previewed several segments including one in which bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, kneel side-by-side. Only al-Zawahri is shown speaking; he calls the attacks on America a "great victory."

Al-Jazeera also aired a segment of a man, identified on the video as a Sept. 11 hijacker, speaking to the camera in a style similar to videotapes made by Palestinian suicide bombers before attacks.

An Al-Jazeera subtitle identified the man only as Alghamdi, the surname used by three of the Sept. 11 hijackers. But Hilal said the man in the video was Ahmed Ibrahim A. Alhaznawi, a hijacker who was also a member of the Alghamdi clan in Saudi Arabia.

Alhaznawi was one of four attackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

"Those 19 brothers who went out and worked and sacrificed their lives for God, God granted this conquest that we enjoy today," Zawahri said in another segment on the tape.

"The great victory that was achieved was because of God's help and not because of our efficiency or power," Zawahri said.

The man identified as the suicide attacker said: "It's time to kill Americans in their heartland."

He wore military fatigues over a black shirt and a black-and-white checked Arab headdress wrapped around his head. He sat in front of a photo montage showing the World Trade Center with a ball of flames in front of it.

Hilal, the Al-Jazeera editor, said the tape was titled: "The wills of the New York and Washington Battle Martyrs." The title shot included photos of the 19 hijackers, and Hilal said the tape might have been delivered from inside Afghanistan.

Al-Jazeera is a 24-hour station owned by Qatar's government. The station has an independent editorial line. It reaches more than 35 million Arabs, including 150,000 in the United States.

The Arab satellite station repeatedly has broadcast exclusive footage of bin Laden making statements. Al-Jazeera also aired a video, released by the United States, showing the al-Qaida leader appearing to discuss the planning of the Sept. 11 attacks.

On Dec. 27, Al-Jazeera aired a bin Laden videotape it said was sent anonymously by air courier from Pakistan to the station. Then too, it was not clear where or when the tape was made but bin Laden's references indicated it could have been made around that time.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

back to Terror in America index