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To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (205484)	11/18/2002 1:32:49 PM
From: ild	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

U.S. Intelligence Concludes Bin Laden Tape Is Authentic Associated Press WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence has concluded that an audiotape of Osama bin Laden broadcast last week is real and was recently recorded, providing the first evidence in almost a year that al Qaeda's leader is alive, officials said Monday. The audiotape, broadcast on an Arab-language television network, does not appear to have been altered or edited, suggesting it is what it sounds like: Mr. bin Laden himself, reading a prepared statement promising new terrorism against the U.S. and its allies, said one U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The analysis of the tape was performed by technical experts, linguists and translators at the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, who compared the message to previous recordings of Mr. bin Laden. They are as certain as they can be that it is genuine, the intelligence official said. Because it mentions recent terrorist attacks, officials concluded it was made in the last few weeks, the official said. U.S. intelligence had not received any definitive evidence in a year that Mr. bin Laden had survived the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. The tape gives little clue to Mr. bin Laden's location or his health, officials said. Although his whereabouts are unknown, U.S. officials believe he is probably hiding in a remote mountainous region in the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The message also was a determining factor in a new spate of terror alerts in the U.S. and elsewhere last week. Previous public statements from Mr. bin Laden have served as preludes to terrorist attacks, officials said. American officials have never confirmed rumors that Mr. bin Laden was wounded or suffering some kind of kidney ailment. The speaker on the tape appears to refer to the killing of a U.S. diplomat in Amman, Jordan, on Oct. 28, the most recent event noted in the transcript. Whether Mr. bin Laden or al Qaeda had a direct hand in the attack is unknown, U.S. officials said. The speaker also praises several more terrorist attacks by suspected Islamic militants between April and October, including the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, on Oct. 12, that left close to 200 people dead, and the Chechen takeover of a theater in Moscow, in late October. Previously, the last certain evidence Mr. bin Laden was alive was recorded on Nov. 9, 2001, when he had dinner with his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, his spokesman and others. A videotape of the meal was recovered by U.S. forces in Afghanistan and later aired internationally. Late in December, another tape of Mr. bin Laden giving a statement aired. He appeared gaunt and possibly wounded. The references in the tape suggested it was filmed in late November or early December, but officials could not be certain. On Dec. 10, in the Tora Bora area of Afghanistan where Mr. bin Laden was believed to be hiding, U.S. personnel intercepted a radio transmission that was believed to have come from the al Qaeda leader. But it was not recorded and never matched against his voiceprint, U.S. officials have said. U.S. intelligence has confirmed several tapes released earlier in 2002 to have come from Mr. bin Laden, who is believed to have led the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that left some 3,000 dead. However, those tapes gave no reference to recent events, and provided no confirmation of whether al Qaeda's leader was still alive.