LONDON, 6 January 2004 — Britain gave credence yesterday to the latest Osama Bin Laden audio tape, saying it was safe to assume that the voice aired on Sunday by Al-Jazeera television was that of the fugitive Al-Qaeda chieftain.
“I’ve had no confirmation, but let’s for the purpose of this interview assume that it was him,” Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said when asked on BBC radio about the recording purportedly from the Al-Qaeda leader.
Asked if he thought it was safe to assume that the voice on the tape really was Bin Laden’s, Straw replied: “Yes.”
“There is no question that the Al-Qaeda organization and its networks are still around,” he said. “I mean, that’s palpable — and so far as we know, Osama Bin Laden is still alive.”
The United States has yet to confirm the authenticity of the recording.
In the tape aired by Al-Jazeera, the speaker claiming to be Bin Laden — mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 — appeared to refer to the Dec. 13 capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and at least one other recent development.
The reference to the capture of the ousted Iraqi leader “shows that the tape was recently recorded,” Al-Jazeera’s news anchor said.
