Bin Laden claims Christmas bombing attempt

CAIRO — Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the failed attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas in a new audio message released Sunday threatening more attacks on the United States.

The United States said there was no indication to suggest that bin Laden or any of his top lieutenants had anything to do with the attempted attack and that the claim may have been motivated by the wish of the terror network’s leaders to appear in control of al Qaeda’s offshoots.

“They offer strategic guidance and rely on their affiliates to carry out that strategic guidance,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in an interview.

“He (bin Laden) is trying to continue to appear relevant,” he said.

The Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab told federal agents shortly afterward that he had been trained and given the explosives by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an al Qaeda-inspired offshoot in bin Laden’s ancestral homeland of Yemen.

In the minute-long recording released to al-Jazeera Arabic news channel, bin Laden addressed President Barack Obama saying the recent attempt was meant to send a message similar to that of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the Sept. 11,” he said. “America will never dream of security unless we will have it in reality in Palestine,” he added.

“God willing, our raids on you will continue as long as your support for the Israelis continues.”

U.S.-based IntelCenter, which monitors militant messages, said bin Laden used specific language he has used before in advance of attacks, a possible indicator of an upcoming action within the next 12 months.

The phrase “Peace be upon those who follow guidance” appears at the beginning and end of messages released in advance of attacks to warn al Qaeda’s enemies that they need to change their ways or they will be attacked, IntelCenter said in a statement. The language, used in the latest message as well, allows al Qaeda to blame the actual attack on those who refuse to change their ways, which in the group’s view forces a response.

There was no way to verify the voice on the audio message was actually bin Laden, but it resembled previous recordings attributed to him.

The U.S. said it could not immediately authenticate the message. But White House adviser David Axelrod told CNN’s “State of the Union” that whatever the source, the message “contains the same hollow justification for the mass slaughter of innocents.”

Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up his plane as it approached Detroit Metro Airport on Christmas Day. However, the explosive powder he was hiding in his underwear failed to detonate.

On Friday, Britain raised its terror threat alert to the second-highest level, one of several recent moves the country has made to increase vigilance against international terrorists after the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a flight from Amsterdam.

Bin Laden’s message came four weeks after the Yemen-based group made its own claim of responsibility for the bomb plot with a different justification — linking it to Yemeni military attacks on al Qaeda targets with the help of U.S. intelligence.

Story Continues →