Bin Laden warns U.S. on Israel ties

By Andrew Hammond

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warned the American people over their government's close ties with Israel in an apparently new audio tape posted on an Islamist website Monday.

"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," Bin Laden's latest tape said.

"The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine."

The message, entitled "A statement to the American people," was around 11 minutes long and was posted a few days after the eighth anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify its authenticity but the website often is used by supporters of al Qaeda.

In the tape, the al Qaeda leader said there had been no real change in American policy because U.S. President Barack Obama had retained people like U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates from the administration of former President George W. Bush.

"If you think about your situation well, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups," Bin Laden said.

"Rather than fighting to liberate Iraq -- as Bush claimed -- it (the White House) should have been liberated."

Analysts who study al Qaeda say the organization is under pressure from followers to strike at Israel following criticism from many Arab commentators that it has never succeeded in launching a direct attack on the Jewish state.

Increasingly frequent and belligerent mentions of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in al Qaeda statements is an attempt to deflect such criticism, they say.

"He is telling a saving lie (that) we are still strong, despite the setbacks we had," said one Gulf-based security analyst. "This is not true."

Professor Ali Jalali, an Afghan expert on south and central Asia at the National Defense University in Washington, said bin Laden was also attempting to exploit wavering about the war in Afghanistan in Europe and the United States.

"He thinks the West is tired of the war and with a little more pressure and intimidation you might expedite this. They want to exploit the situation," said Jalali, who was Afghan Interior Minister from 2003 to 2005.

"They are also sending a message to insurgent forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan that they have not lost morale despite the increase in US forces and that eventually they will prevail."

IN HIDING