Tape attributed to bin Laden praises attack on U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia

CAIRO, Egypt — A man identified as Osama bin Laden, speaking on an audiotape posted on an Islamic Web site Thursday, praised an attack earlier this month on a U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia and criticized the Saudi regime as weak and controlled by the United States.

The voice sounded like the al-Qaida terror chief's, and the tape, which was more than an hour, was posted on a site known as a clearinghouse for militant Islamic comment. The identity of the voice, however, could not be independently confirmed.

The tape appeared the same day another dissident had called for anti-monarchy protests in the kingdom.

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said U.S. intelligence officials were analyzing the purported bin Laden tape, but "it appears to be" the voice of the al-Qaida leader.

When asked whether he thought bin Laden was trying to taunt the United States and Saudi Arabia, Powell replied, "He's a terrorist. That's what terrorists do. He's a criminal, he's a terrorist, he's a murderer and we're going to continue to hunt for him. ... He will be brought to justice."

The tape's reference to the Dec. 6 attack — in which five militants shot their way into the compound of the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, killing five non-American employees — showed that it was made recently. Four of the attackers were killed and one was wounded in the consulate attack.

"God bless our brothers who stormed the American Consulate in Jiddah," the speaker said. "Those who were killed of our brothers, we ask God to accept them as martyrs." The attack was claimed at the time by al-Qaida's branch in the kingdom.

Also Thursday on the same Web site, an audiotape surfaced that was purportedly a recording of the sounds of the consulate attack transmitted via the attackers' mobile phones. Sirens, machine gun fire and shouts of "God is Great!" can be heard. At the end, a man recites Quranic verses and then says: "Humiliation for America the infidel and its allies!"

The speaker in the purported bin Laden tape, speaking in calm and even tones, accused Saudi rulers of "violating God's rules," a common theme of bin Laden, who accuses Saudi rulers of being insufficiently Islamic and too close to the "infidel" United States.

"The sins the regime committed are great ... it practiced injustices against the people, violating their rights, humiliating their pride," the speaker said. He accused the Saudi royal family of misspending public money while "millions of people are suffering from poverty and deprivation."