God ordered us to terrorize the infidels, and we terrorized the infidels

Sulaiman bu Ghaith

Sulaiman bu Ghaith said that al-Qaeda had managed to hit the United States "right on its doorstep".

He was speaking in an undated recording aired on Wednesday by a Saudi-owned TV network.

The tape also showed what appeared to be al-Qaeda fighters killed in Afghanistan.

The spokesman, who is among Washington's most wanted men, accused the US of "publicly fighting Islam".

Bu Ghaith said the US was "publicly fighting Islam"

"We have managed to attack the head of infidelity, who deliberately and openly declares his hostility to Islam day and night, in his own country," he said.

"God ordered us to terrorise the infidels, and we terrorised the infidels," he added.

The same broadcast - by the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation - showed old statements made by Bin Laden himself welcoming the suicide attacks, which killed about 3,000 people.

Two of Bin Laden's aides, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mohammed Atef, also appeared in the video.

Atef, who was believed to have been killed in a US air strike on Kabul in November, is seen to say: "Liberating Palestine starts here."

Another tape was broadcast by the Qatari satellite channel al-Jazeera on Monday, in which al-Zawahiri described the attacks as a "great victory".

Al-Jazeera has promised to air the tape in full on Thursday.