Timeline: Recent bin Laden messages

(Reuters) - A purported audio tape of Osama bin Laden aired on Al Jazeera television claimed responsibility for an attempted Christmas Day plane bombing and the al Qaeda leader vowed to continue attacks on the United States.

More than 60 messages have been broadcast by bin Laden, al Qaeda's number two Ayman al-Zawahri, and their allies since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Following is a timeline of major statements attributed to bin Laden in the past since 2007.

September 7, 2007 - Bin Laden appears in his first videotape for nearly three years, to mark the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States. In a message to the American people, bin Laden says the U.S. is vulnerable despite its economic and military power.

November 29, 2007 - Bin Laden urges European countries in an audiotape to end their alliance with U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

March 19, 2008 - In an audio recording, Bin Laden threatens the European Union with grave punishment over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

March 20, 2008 - Bin Laden urges Muslims to keep up the struggle against U.S. forces in Iraq as a path to "liberating Palestine."

May 16, 2008 - Bin Laden, in an audiotape addressed to "Western peoples," calls for the fight against Israel to continue and says the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the heart of the Muslim battle with the West.

May 18, 2008 - Bin Laden urges Muslims to break the Israeli-led blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and fight Arab governments that deal with the Jewish state, in an audiotape posted on the Internet.

January 14, 2009 - Bin Laden, in an audiotape, calls for a new jihad over Gaza and says the global financial crisis has exposed waning U.S. influence in world affairs.

March 14, 2009 - Bin Laden accuses moderate Arab leaders of plotting with the West against Muslims, in an audio recording aired by Al Jazeera television.

June 3, 2009 - Bin Laden says in an audio message that Obama has planted the seeds of "revenge and hatred toward America" in the Muslim world and warned Americans to prepare for the consequences.

September 14, 2009 - Bin Laden warns the American people over their government's close ties to Israel, saying it was time for Americans to free themselves from the grip of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby. "The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine," the tape added.

September 25, 2009 - Bin Laden demands that European nations withdraw their troops from Afghanistan in audio tape, saying they were sacrificing men and money in an unjust U.S.-led war. The tape, released on the Internet with a background picture of bin Laden, had German and English subtitles. It was released days before Germany held a federal election.

November 6, 2009 - A videotape of bin Laden released is the Pashto-language version of a tape released several months ago, says IntelCenter, a U.S.-based terrorism monitoring firm.

Titled "To Our People in Pakistan," the tape was broadly released in Arabic and Urdu on July 12, IntelCenter said. Excerpts had been aired by Al Jazeera on June 3, it added.

January 24, 2010 - A purported audio tape of bin Laden is aired on Al Jazeera and claims responsibility for a December 25 attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound plane. "The message sent to you with the attempt by the hero Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is a confirmation of our previous message conveyed by the heroes of September 11," bin Laden says on the tape.