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Osama Urges US to Convert

Officials says al-Qaeda leader's latest message appears to be authentic

By Zach Samalin, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 7, 2007 4:27 PM CDT

(Newser) – The first video of Osama Bin Laden in 3 years appears authentic, and he issues "no overt threat" but does call the US unjust, chides Americans for re-electing George Bush, and says the war in Iraq can only end with American defeat—or Americans converting to Islam, which he invites them to do. The video was leaked to the US government and has not yet gone public, the AP reports.

As soon as word got out that the US had the video, Islamic militant websites went down. Terrorist experts suspect that al-Qaeda ordered the shutdown to figure out how the video leaked. While some doubt the video's authenticity, it references current events in the Iraq war, and no prior al-Qaeda transmission has proved false.

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

This two picture combination shows on the left, Osama bin Laden in an image made from an undated video broadcast on Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 by the Arab television station Al-Jazeera. On the right, bin Laden... (Associated Press)

This undated photo shows al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Bin Laden will address Americans on the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a new video, Al-Qaida's media arm announced.... (Associated Press)

This frame grab provided by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Osama bin Laden in a CNN interview in 1997. Jurors in the Jose Padilla terrorism support case saw this video Tuesday June 26, 2007 of Osama... (Associated Press)

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Osama Urges US to Convert