Scouring Osama Tapes For Clues

Intelligence analysts were looking for clues to Osama bin Laden's whereabouts in a new videotape that shows him in Afghan garb, walking past wildflowers and tufts of green grass on a rocky mountainside.

Afghan officials said Thursday the tape reinforced their belief that bin Laden is hiding across the border in Pakistan, and said it was calculated to boost the morale of al Qaeda militants on the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

However, bin laden looks slightly grayer in an older tape from December 2001, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin, suggesting this new tape may have been shot before then. Whatever the exact date, CIA officials do not believe it is recent and say it provides no information about the current condition or whereabouts of bin Laden.

In an exclusive interview, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge tells CBS News Correspondent Peter Maer he believes bin Laden is in the "bandit zone" between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Osama bin Laden and a lot of those terrorists can hide quite easily," Ridge said.

They do so with plenty of help, according to Rohan Gun Ratna, an expert on the region.

"He has a network of supporters on that border who will insure his survival," Ridge said.

The footage was broadcast Wednesday by Al-Jazeera television and is the first new video of bin Laden in nearly two years.

In it, the al Qaeda leader is accompanied by his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, as he hikes over boulders scattered across a hillside of lush green grass. In some scenes, the men carry walking sticks and assault rifles.

The landscape resembles the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where U.S. officials believe bin Laden is hiding out.

In an eight-minute audiotape accompanying the video footage, a speaker identified as bin Laden praises the "great damage to the enemy" on Sept. 11 and mentions five hijackers by name. On a second tape, a voice said to be that of al-Zawahri threatens more attacks on Americans and calls on Iraqi guerrillas to "bury" U.S. troops.

Al-Jazeera's editor-in-chief, Ibrahim Hilal, said the tapes were handed over to the broadcaster on Wednesday, apparently to coincide with the attacks anniversary. Hilal said the tapes contained 1 hour, 45 minutes of footage but only eight minutes showing the al Qaeda leaders, which the station decided to broadcast immediately.

In the past, the release of a bin Laden tape has been a sign that another attack was in the works, reports Martin, but officials say intelligence warnings of an al Qaeda attack were higher for the first anniversary of Sept. 11 than for this second anniversary.

An unclassified report by the CIA says al Qaeda is rapidly losing the leadership and skills to mount sophisticated attacks and America is much better defended today with security measures like the random air patrols over major cities.

However, not every place in the world where Americans gather can be defended, and it only takes a handful of terrorists to carry out an attack, so Martin warns it's likely that al Qaeda is still capable of killing large numbers of Americans.

In the audiotape, the voice identified as bin Laden calls the Sept. 11 hijackers true believers who should serve as models for other Muslims.

"Those men caused great damage to the enemy and disturbed their plans," the speaker says.

The voice said to be al-Zawahri threatens more attacks on Americans.

"What you saw until now are only the first skirmishes," al-Zawahri allegedly says in a 12-minute tape. "The true epic has not begun."

A religious song could be heard in the background of the alleged bin Laden audiotape.

The videotape broadcast Wednesday shows bin Laden and al-Zawahri dressed in loose-fitting Afghan clothing and flat caps known as pakuls.

In one shot, bin Laden, in his late 40s and more than 6 feet tall, is assisted by a walking stick in his right hand and wears a blanket over his left shoulder. He shows signs of age since his last video image two years ago; his beard is whiter.

The two climb to the hilltop and sit resting, looking out over trees and rocky outcroppings, the camera behind them. The video appeared well-planned and well-shot, likely with bin Laden's full cooperation, as he glances over his shoulder at the camera several times.

Neither bin Laden nor his aide speak on the video, which appeared to be shot in one day. The light and bin Laden's clothing is the same in each segment. He appears to allow the cameraman time to move ahead to get a series of shots, and at one point he waves at the camera.

In one scene a small cluster of wildflowers can be seen, suggesting — given the apparent high altitude at which the video was shot — that the videotape was made in early summer. At such an altitude wild flowers would not be blooming in early September.

In the audiotape, the speaker said to be al-Zawahri refers to U.S. troops in Iraq — an indication that it was made after American troops entered Iraq last March.

"We salute the mujahedeen brothers in Iraq and press on their hands and ask Allah to bless their sacrifices and valor in fighting the crusaders," the speaker says. "We tell you that Allah is with you and the (Islamic) nation supports you. ... Bury them in the Iraqi graveyard."

The voice attributed to al-Zawahri also refers to the Sept. 11 anniversary.

"On the second anniversary of the raids on New York and Washington we challenge America and its crusade, which is teetering from its wounds in Afghanistan and Iraq," the speaker says. "We tell them that we do not seek to kill, but we will chop off the hand which seeks to inflict harm on us, God willing."