The video that allegedly belongs to Osama Bin Laden was found
containing references to current events in the United States,
showing it was recently made, said a TV report on Friday.
Quoting a government official on anonymity, CNN report said that
the video mentioned some current events about US involvement in the
Iraq war, which could prove it was made as recently as this
summer.
The intelligence officials are still verifying the video's
authenticity, the report said.
However, the 30-minute video carried no overt threat to attack
the US, it added.
Earlier the day, media reports said that the US government had
obtained the new video that was allegedly made by Bin Laden to mark
the 6th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff remained
amphibolous about the reports, only saying the government would
follow a standard procedure to analyze any tapes it receives.
Bin Laden, who tops the US wanted list, has disappeared from
video since October 2004 when he was last seen in a video statement
before the 2004 US presidential election. His last audiotape was
released in July 2006, in which he vowed to fight the United States
across the world.
He returned to the screen on Thursday when US officials found on
militant websites an Arabic ad for the new video that was set to be
released to mark anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
However, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said later
Thursday that US government had received no "credible information"
about any imminent threat to the country.
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Michael Hayden
told another story to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York
on Friday.
"Our analysts assess with high confidence that al-Qaida's
central leadership is planning high impact plots against the
American homeland," he said.
He also said the terrorist group, accused of being behind the
Sept. 11 attacks to the United States, was focusing on targets that
"would produce mass casualties, dramatic destruction and
significant economic aftershocks."
(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2007)
