Zawahiri's Promise.

In a video aired on Sept. 11 by al-Jazeera TV, al-Qaeda's No. 2 man Dr. Zawahiri warned that the six Arab Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states, Israel and US allies will be next in line for attack. Dressed in white and sitting in front of a book case, Zawahiri addressed Western leaders: "I tell them do not bother yourselves with defending your forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. These forces are doomed to failure. You have to bolster your defences in two areas...the first is the Gulf (GCC), from which you will be evicted, God willing, after your defeat in Iraq and then your economic doom will be achieved. And the next [target] is Israel. The current phase of the jihad [holy war] is closing on it and your end there will put an end to the Zionist-crusader supremacy".

Western media on Sept. 12 quoted a "US intelligence official" as saying: "Basically, what we have is a propaganda tape - obviously timed to reach the media around 9/11 - from a brutal and duplicitous organization that primarily kills fellow Muslims and wreaks havoc in the Muslim world".

Zawahiri blasted UNSC Resolution 1701 governing a ceasefire which ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hizbullah. He said: "The biggest problem with Resolution 1701 and similar resolutions designed to humiliate Muslims is...its declaration of the existence of the Jewish state". He said under 1701, Western and Lebanese government forces were sealing Lebanon's southern border with Israel and thus defending the Jewish state. In that he indirectly attacked Hizbullah without mentioning it as such, by embarrassing the Shi'ite group.

Zawahiri warned of "new events" and said the policies of Western countries were giving militants a "legitimate excuse" to fight them. He added: "Your leaders are hiding from you the true extent of the disaster and the days are pregnant and giving birth to new events, with God's permission and guidance".

Al-Jazeera TV on Sept. 7 broadcast previously unseen footage of a smiling Osama bin Laden meeting with the top planners of 9/11 in an Afghan mountain camp and calling on followers to pray for the hijackers as they carry out the suicide mission. The sections shown were part of a video which al-Qaeda announced it would release later on the Internet to mark the fifth anniversary of the attacks. The video includes the last testament of two of the hijackers, Wa'el al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi. It shows bin Laden strolling in the camp, greeting followers who al-Jazeera said included some of the hijackers. But their faces are not clear.

In one scene, bin Laden addresses the camera, saying: "I ask you to pray for them [hijackers] and to ask God to make them successful, aim their shots well, set their feet strong and strengthen their hearts". The comments were apparently filmed before 9/11 but never before released. The Associated Press on Sept. 8 quoted Ben Venzke, head of IntelCenter, a private US company which monitors militant message traffic and provides counter-terrorism intelligence services to the US government, as saying the footage was the fourth in a series of long videos which al-Qaeda had put out to memorialise the suicide attacks. He said the previous ones were issued in April and September 2002 and September 2003, each showing footage from the planning of the suicide hijackings and hijackers' last testimonies. He said the latest full video probably lasted 40 minutes to two hours, based on the past ones.

Al-Jazeera did not say how it obtained the video, which bore the logo of as-Sahab, al-Qaeda's media branch. Venzke said of al-Sahab: "They produce long videos like these not just for 9/11, but for any significant events they feel warrant their attention". One aim is recruitment, but such videos have several purposes - "to speak to their supporters, to raise morale within their own group, to facilitate fund-raising, and to serve as a psychological attack".

In the footage broadcast by al-Jazeera, bin Laden is shown sitting outside in what appears to be a mountain camp with his former lieutenant, Muhammad Atef, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh, another suspected planner of 9/11. Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, was killed by a US air strike in Afghanistan in 2001. Bin al-Shibh was captured four years ago in Pakistan and is currently in US custody, and President Bush on Sept. 6 announced plans to put him on military trial.

Bin Laden, wearing a dark robe and white head gear, strolls through the camp, greeting dozens of followers, some masked, some barefaced, many carrying automatic weapons. Other scenes show training at the camp. Masked militants perform martial arts kicks or learn how to break the hold of someone who grabs them from behind. Several militants are shown practicing hiding and pulling out fold-out knives.