'Bin Laden' attacks Arab leaders

A new audio message said to be from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden accuses moderate Arab leaders of conspiring with the West against Muslims.

Bin Laden, who has been America's most wanted man since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, also renews his attacks on Israel in the recording attributed to him.

It was broadcast by the Qatari-****d TV channel al-Jazeera which did not say how it had been obtained.

Correspondents say the voice sounds similar to previous Bin laden tapes.

"It is clear that some Arab leaders have plotted with the Zionist-Crusader [Israel-Western] coalition against our people," the speaker on the tape says, without naming any leader.

"These are the leaders that America calls moderate."

He also accuses Israel of war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where it waged an offensive earlier this year, leaving some 1,300 people dead.

The speaker calls for a renewed jihad and urges militants to first conquer Iraq and then Jordan, which can be used as a route into the West Bank.

The last recorded message said to be from Osama Bin Laden was released in mid-January and called for a holy war to stop the Israeli offensive against Gaza.

Osama Bin Laden is believed to be living in the tribal areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with a multi-million dollar US bounty on his head.

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