Another Bin Laden Tape Coming?
Al Qaeda said Monday that it will release a new video of Osama bin Laden presenting the last testament of one of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers, marking the sixth anniversary of the attacks.
The announcement from the terror group's media arm came only days after bin Laden appeared in his first video in three years, giving an address to the American people, lecturing them to abandon capitalism and democracy and convert to Islam.
The announcement came in a banner advertisement posted on an Islamic militant Web site where al Qaeda often releases messages and was signed by al-Sahab, the media arm of bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network.
"Coming soon, God willing, the testament of the attacks on New York and Washington, Abu Musab Waleed al-Shehri, presented by Sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the banner read. It showed an image of bin Laden wearing the same black beard and clothes as in the most recent video.
Neil Doyle, a U.K.-based terrorism analyst who authored a book on the use of the Internet by Muslim extremists, told CBSNews.com there is a "fairly good likelihood that there might be some new footage, because it's being flagged up as being presented by him."
Doyle said the clip likely to introduce al-Sherhi's last testament "may have been recorded at the same time as the last video," referring to the bin Laden tape released last Friday.
CBS News' own jihadi Web site analyst, whose name is withheld for security reasons, also said there is a strong possibility that any video seen as an introduction to the al-Sherhi statement in the coming hours or days will either be old or an as yet unseen portion of the interview taped for release last week.
"There have been lots of celebrations around this particular anniversary (of the Sept. 11 attacks). More than we've seen in the past," added Doyle, citing the possibility of a second bin Laden video as another element of the fervor seen in the online jihadist community.
Last year, al-Sahab released a 55-minute video with the last testimonies of hijackers Wail al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi. The video included old but previously unreleased footage showing bin Laden strolling through an Afghan training camp where the attacks were apparently planned and chatting with top al Qaeda lieutenants. The tape was accompanied by another with an address by bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Waleed al-Shehri was one of the hijackers on American Airlines flight 11 that hit the World Trade Center. He and Wail al-Shehri were brothers. Wael was 25 and Waleed was 21 at the time of the attacks.