US: Osama bin Laden warned that al-Qaeda was preparing new attacks inside the US, but said the movement was open to a conditional truce with Americans, according to an audio tape attributed to him yesterday.
US intelligence analysts have authenticated the tape as a genuine message from bin Laden, a CIA official said. "Following a technical analysis, the voice on the tape is believed to be that of Osama bin Laden," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
US vice-president Dick Cheney said a conditional truce offer in the tape appeared to be a ploy but he was not ready to draw any conclusions. The White House said the US "does not negotiate with terrorists".
It was the first purported tape by bin Laden since 2004. Al Jazeera television, which aired the tape, said it was recorded in December. "The operations are under preparation and you will see them in your houses as soon as they are complete, God willing," said the speaker on the audio tape, who sounded like bin Laden.
Bin Laden said al-Qaeda was willing to "respond" to US public opinion in favour of withdrawing troops from Iraq. He did not specify conditions for the truce, but indicated it was linked to US troops quitting Iraq.
"Based on the substance of the polls, which indicate Americans do not want to fight Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their land, we do not mind offering a long-term truce based on just conditions," he said.
"There is nothing wrong with this solution except that it deprives the influential people and warlords in America from hundreds of billions of dollars - those who supported Bush's election campaign with billions of dollars." Bin Laden offered a truce to Europe in a tape in April 2004.
Al Jazeera declined to give any details about how it had obtained the tape and an editor said there was a reference in the recording which indicated it had been made in December.
In the brief segments aired, bin Laden ridiculed President Bush for misreading public opinion, which he said showed the American people wanted US forces to quit Iraq. He also said Iraq had become a recruiting ground for militants. Al-Qaeda, led by close bin Laden ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is one of several insurgent groups fighting US forces in Iraq. US and Iraqi officials say many of their members are non-Iraqis.
"Your president is misinterpreting public opinion polls which show the vast majority of you support the withdrawal of your forces from Iraq," he said.
"Bush disagreed with this desire and said the withdrawal of troops will give the wrong message to the enemy and that it is better to fight them on their ground than on our ground.
"Reality shows that the war against the US and its allies is not just restricted to Iraq as he claims, but Iraq has become a gravitational point and a recruiting ground for qualified [ mujahideen]," bin Laden added.