CAIRO, Egypt, May 23, 2006
Bin Laden Tape: No Moussaoui-9/11 Link
Purported Tape Of Al Qaeda Leader Denies Moussaoui Worked On Attack
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Play CBS Video Video Bin Laden Tape On Moussaoui An audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden claims he personally assigned all of the 19 hijackers who took part in the 9/11 attacks - and Zacarias Moussaoui was not one of them. Lara Logan reports.
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(CBS/AP)
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This artist's rendering shows Zacarias Moussaoui in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, May 4, 2006, during his sentencing. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)
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But bin Laden on the tape called Moussaoui's connection "false" and the result of years of pressure put on him, Logan reports.
Edward MacMahon, one of the lawyers who defended Moussaoui during his death penalty trial, said bin Laden wouldn't have made the best witness for his client, even with his statements that Moussaoui had no role in the attacks.
"I'm not commenting on the credibility of Osama bin Laden," MacMahon said. "I never believed there was any evidence to support Moussaoui's story (that he was the 20th highjacker), and that's what I told the jury."
Two U.S. counterterrorism officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. intelligence was aware of the bin Laden message. One of the officials said there was no reason to doubt its authenticity.
That official said the message is part of bin Laden's continuing effort to demonstrate he is a relevant extremist leader, who is knowledgeable of current events.
The official said the message was made for propaganda purposes, and it does not contain any threats.
The audio message, which is less than five minutes long, was transmitted with a still photo of bin Laden.
The tape is the third by bin Laden this year. In a tape aired on Arab television in March, he denounced the United States and Europe for cutting off funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian government, accusing them of leading a "Zionist" war on Islam, and urged followers to fight any U.N. peacekeeping force in Sudan.
In January, bin Laden said in an audiotape that al Qaeda was preparing new attacks in the United States but offered a truce — though his lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahri later issued a video saying Washington had refused to take the offer.
The January message was bin Laden's first in over a year, his longest period of silence since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
His deputy al-Zawahri releases messages more frequently, appearing in videotapes, while bin Laden has not appeared in a video since October 2004.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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