Videos and audio recordings of Osama bin Laden

There have been several videos released by, or claiming to be produced by, Osama bin Laden. Many of the Osama bin Laden tapes have been released directly (by mail or messenger) to Arabic language satellite television networks like Al Jazeera.

Videos shown on public media

1999

On October 13, 2007, as Sahab, al Qaeda's media arm, released a video showing Osama bin Laden celebrating Eid Khutbah in 1999.

September 16, 2001

On September 16, 2001, Osama bin Laden issued the following statement via al Jazeera in reference to the 9/11 attacks: "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation." This is the most recent video attributed to bin Laden which has not had its authenticity questioned.

December 13, 2001

On December 9, 2001 U.S. military forces in Jalalabad found a video tape of bin Laden . On December 13, 2001, the United States State Department released a video tape apparently showing Osama bin Laden speaking with Khaled al-Harbi and other associates, somewhere in Afghanistan, before the U.S. invasion had driven the [Taliban] regime from Kandahar. The State Department stated that the tape was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan during a raid on a house in Jalalabad. The tape was aired with an accompanying English translation. In this translation, Osama bin Laden displays knowledge of the timing of the actual attack a few days in advance ; the translation attributes the following lines to bin Laden:

"we calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be killed based on the position of the tower. We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic of them all...We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day. We had finished our work that day and had the radio on...Muhammad (Atta) from the Egyptian family (meaning the Al Qaida Egyptian group), was in charge of the group...The brothers, who conducted the operation, all they knew was that they have a martyrdom operation and we asked each of them to go to America but they didn't know anything about the operation, not even one letter. But they were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before they boarded the planes."

On December 20, 2001, German TV channel "Das Erste" broadcast its analysis of the White House's translation of the videotape. On the program "Monitor", two independent translators and an expert on oriental studies found the White House's translation to be not only inaccurate, but also manipulative saying "At the most important places where it is held to prove the guilt of Bin Laden, it is not identical with the Arabic" and that the words used that indicate foreknowledge can not be heard at all in the original Arabic. Prof. Gernot Rotter, professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies at the Asia-Africa Institute at the University of Hamburg said "The American translators who listened to the tapes and transcribed them apparently wrote a lot of things in that they wanted to hear but that cannot be heard on the tape no matter how many times you listen to it." Some members of Scholars for 9/11 Truth believe that the man in this videotape is not Osama Bin Laden at all, citing differences in weight and facial features [13].

September 9, 2002

On September 9, 2002 an audio tape allegedly made by bin Laden was broadcast on al Jazeera. The BBC reported that "the identity of the speaker cannot be independently confirmed and it is unclear when the tape was recorded. But correspondents agree that the voice sounds very similar to previous recordings of the al-Qaeda leader."

November 12, 2002

Qatar Al Jazeera broadcasted the unauthenticated bin Laden Recording. US law enforcement officials report bin Laden is probably the speaker on the tape. US experts who have heard or processed the tape usually support that conclusion. The result of IDIAP Research shows that the tape is fake at 93% of accuracy.

February 12, 2003

On February 12, 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate panel that he had reviewed a transcript of a message from bin Laden stating he was in “partnership with Iraq" which was to be broadcast on al Jazeera. Al Jazeera initially denied having the tape, but subsequently located it.

October 29, 2004

Main article: October 29, 2004 Osama bin Laden video

Shortly before the U.S. presidential election on 29 October 2004, Arab television network Al Jazeera broadcast an 18 minute video tape of Osama bin Laden, addressed to citizens of the United States. According to the English translation distributed by the BBC and other media outlets, he tells viewers he personally directed the 19 hijackers, and describes his motivation:

I will explain to you the reasons behind these events, and I will tell you the truth about the moments when this decision was taken, so that you can reflect on it. God knows that the plan of striking the towers had not occurred to us, but the idea came to me when things went just too far with the American-Israeli alliance's oppression and atrocities against our people in Palestine and Lebanon.

Bin Laden claimed he was inspired to destroy the World Trade Center after watching the destruction of towers in Lebanon by Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War.

January 19, 2006

Main article: 19 January 2006 Osama bin Laden tape

On 19 January 2006, Al Jazeera broadcast an audiotape of Osama bin Laden again addressing citizens of the United States .

April 23, 2006

On 23 April 2006, Al Jazeera broadcast parts of an audiotape. On this tape bin Laden accuses the Western world of waging a Zionist crusade against Islam . He comments on Hamas, Darfur and the situation in Iraq.

May 23rd, 2006

On May 23rd 2006 Al Jazeera broadcasted a 5 minute audiotape from bin Laden where he claims he alone assigned the hijackers to perform the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bin Laden comments on the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and the imprisoned journalists Sami al-Hajj and Tayssir Alouni, denying any of them (apart from a few Guantanamo Bay prisoners) were connected with Al-Qaeda.

Bin Laden tells viewers Zacarias Moussaoui "had no connection at all with Sept. 11. I am the one in charge of the 19 brothers and I never assigned brother Zacarias to be with them in that mission. I am certain of what I say because I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers ... with the raids." .

June 30, 2006

On June 30 2006, an Islamist website posted a recording in which bin Laden praised Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a "lion of Jihad". The nineteen-minute video shows a still picture of Bin Laden next to video celebrating al-Zarqawi. US officials said the tape was authentic.

September 7, 2006

On September 7th, 2006 a videotape of previously unaired footage of Osama bin Laden and two of the hijackers was broadcast on Al-Jazeera TV. The videotape was believed to have been shot in Afghanistan some weeks before the attack and includes scenes of men training with weapons and box cutters, and hand to hand combat. The video was released four days prior to the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael P. Jackson, suggested at the time the video might be a signal to Al-Qaeda supporters in the United States to initiate a terrorist attack on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, but no such attack came to pass.

July 14, 2007

On July 14, 2007, a few days after the Lal Masjid siege, by the Pakistani government, and after a video released by Ayman al-Zawarihhi, bin Laden released a tape. He was shown with a fatigued expression. He appeared in a video clip, less than a minute long, on a militant website. BBC News reports that it was "undated and correspondents say it may be re-run footage. Its authenticity also cannot be independently verified."

September 7, 2007

Main article: 2007 Osama bin Laden video

On September 7, 2007 an entirely new videotape of Osama Bin Laden was aired. This was his first new appearance in almost three years. In the tape he mentions no acts of terrorism or war against the United States, but criticizes large corporations, Congressional Democrats, the War on Terror, and the PMs of Great Britain. He strongly urges individuals to convert to Islam. In the movie, Bin Laden also mentions the new President of France and Global Warming.

"During the video, bin Laden's image moves for only a total of 3 1/2 minutes in two segments, staying frozen the rest of the time while his remarks continue. From bin Laden's mention of current events it appeared to indicate the video is recently made and thus also proving bin Laden is still alive, however the mentions of current events occur only in the frozen sections of the tape.

September 11, 2007

Main article: Sept 11 2007 Osama bin Laden video

On September 11, 2007, a second video appeared purportedly featuring a eulogy by Osama bin Laden to 9/11 hijacker Waleed al-Shehri. In the video, a voice identified as bin Laden's delivers the 14-minute introduction. The voice is heard over a still picture of bin Laden, dressed and groomed as he appears in the September 7, 2007 video. The 33-minute balance of the recording is a video will read by al-Shehri.

September 20, 2007

Main article: Sept 20 2007 Osama bin Laden tape

On September 20, 2007, an audio tape appeared with bin Ladens voice over previously released footage of him. In the audio tape bin Laden called on Pakistanis to overthrow President Pervez Musharraf, promising what he called retaliation for the storming of the Red Mosque in the capital, Islamabad, in July.

October 22, 2007

Main article: Oct 22 2007 Osama bin Laden tape

On October 22, 2007, an audio tape appeared purportedly by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has urged insurgent groups in Iraq to unify their ranks.

November 29, 2007

Main article: Nov 29 2007 Osama bin Laden tape

On November 29, 2007, an audio tape appeared purportedly by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has urged European countries to end their military involvement in Afghanistan.

December 29, 2007

In an audiotape Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against fighting al-Qaeda and vowed to expand the group's Jihad to Israel, threatening "blood for blood, destruction for destruction."

March 19, 2008

Main article: Mar 19 2008 Osama bin Laden tape

On March 19, 2008, an audio tape appeared purportedly by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden "threatens" the EU over the re-printing of a cartoon offensive to Muslims.

March 20, 2008

Main article: Mar 20 2008 Osama bin Laden tape

On March 20, 2008, a second audio tape appeared purportedly by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden urging Palestinian militants to join the insurgency in Iraq.

See also

• Videos of Ayman al-Zawahiri
• Ayman al-Zawahiri
• al-Qaeda
• As-Sahab

References

• Numbers 3 and 5 have incorrect dates and should read December 13, 2001, not September. "Bin Laden Re-emerges, Warning U.S. While Offering 'Truce'" by Hassan Fattah and Douglas Jehl, The New York Times, retrieved January 19, 2006

External links

• All al-Qaeda / As-Sahab video productions
• Strategic Translations of Bin Laden, Zarqawi, and other terrorists by Laura Mansfield

• CNN.com Tapes shed new light on bin Laden's network
• BBC transcripts and news items of the December 13 2001 tape
• US Government transcript of the December 13 2001 tape (PDF)
• Guardian resume of January 19, 2006 tape.
• Guardian about Moussaoui and Guantanamo Bay of May 23, 2006 tape.
• Guardian May 23rd tape 2006 about Sami al-Hajj and Tayssir Alouni.
• Guardian resume of June 30, 2006 tape.
• Guardian Unlimited List of all al-Qaida tapes.