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U.S. OFFICIALS: Top bin Laden Aide Voice on Tape
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
By Tabassum Zakaria
Reuters

"Our message to our enemies is that America and its allies should know that their crimes will not go unpunished and we advise them to leave Palestine and Afghanistan quickly before they lose everything."

WASHINGTON -- Reuters
The voice on a tape broadcast by Qatar's al-Jazeera television appears to be that of senior al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri and the content suggests he was alive as recently as a couple of weeks ago, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

Jazeera broadcast on Tuesday the alleged voice of Zawahri, considered to be Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, saying al Qaeda had carried out attacks on French and German targets and that bin Laden was alive.

"It's been pinned down as something between as early as sometime in August and as recently as a couple of weeks ago," a U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

In May, an attack on a bus in Pakistan killed 11 French naval engineers, and in April a blast at a synagogue in Tunisia killed 21 people, including 14 German tourists. Both attacks have been linked to al Qaeda.
(More: Miami.com News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan