Osama bin Laden plans to emerge from the shadows to taunt the US again in a video message marking the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, US-based monitoring services and a militant Web site said.
The video from the world's most-wanted man, first announced late on Thursday by US services that monitor militant Web sites, would be the first such appearance by the Saudi extremist since October 2004, when he threatened new attacks against the US just days before a US election.
A US official said bin Laden's al-Qaeda network was using the media to manipulate and try to terrorize Americans.
"The SITE Intelligence Group has learned that a new video message is forthcoming from the head of al-Qaeda" on the Sept. 11 anniversary, said the group, which monitors extremist Web sites and publications.
The al-Qaeda network's media arm, as-Sahab, announced the video in a notice posted on jihadist forums on Thursday night, SITE said.
"Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheikh Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the notice read.
A Web site 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 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 Sept. 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 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.
The US 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 him and the rest of the leadership to justice," said Frances Townsend, the US president's homeland security adviser.
Townsend told CNN television that the video, and previous al-Qaeda statements, were designed as propaganda to spread fear.
"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," she said.
While other senior figures had been tracked down, "there is no greater target on our al-Qaeda list than bin Laden," Townsend said.
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