The new audiotape of Osama bin Laden is an authentic, unedited and recent recording of the al-Qaeda leader, US intelligence officials said after completing a technical and linguistic analysis.
The CIA and National Security Agency, which conducted the study, concluded the tape is what it seems: bin Laden himself, reading a statement that promises new terrorism against the US.
"It is clear that the tape was made in the last several weeks as well," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan on Monday.
It was the first definitive evidence in almost a year that bin Laden survived the US-led war on his home of Afghanistan in the months after Sept. 11, 2001.
While noting that "it cannot be stated with 100 percent certainty," McClellan told reporters that intelligence experts were sure that bin Laden had spoken.
"It's a reminder that we need to continue doing everything we can to go after these terrorist networks and their leaders wherever they are, and we will," McClellan said.
The audio message gives little clue to bin Laden's location or his health, intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Some have wondered if he used audio, instead of video, to conceal injuries, sickness or a change in appearance.
Officials believe he is probably hiding in a remote mountainous region along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. There have been rumors that bin Laden was wounded or suffered some kind of kidney ailment.
Officials are unsure why bin Laden chose now to speak. Perhaps he has recovered from an injury, or at last feels secure enough in his location to put out a message to his followers. He also refers to the ongoing US-Iraqi conflict, and may have spoken in anticipation of a coming war.
Previous public statements from bin Laden have served as preludes to terrorist attacks he masterminded, officials said.
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