Bin Laden praises 9/11 hijacker

The 47-minute video, which contained the highjacker's testament, was first obtained by a US monitoring team.

Later in the day it appeared on militant websites, with a note from al Qaida's media production wing al Sahab saying it was intentionally sent to television stations before being placed on the internet.

Al Qaida traditionally issues a video every year on the anniversary, with the last testament of one of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

This year's video showed hijacker Waleed al-Shehri, addressing the camera and warning the US, "We shall come at you from your front and back, your right and left."

The new message, which Associated Press Television News obtained from the IntelCentre monitoring group in suburban Washington, came days after the world got its first current look at bin Laden in nearly three years, with the release of a video on Saturday in which the terror leader addressed the American people.

It begins with an audiotape introduction by bin Laden. While his voice is heard, the video shows a still image of him, raising his finger. In the image, bin Laden has the same dyed-black beard and the same clothes - a white robe and cap and beige cloak - that he had in Saturday's video. But it was not known if the audiotape was recently made.

In the past, al Qaida has used footage and audio of bin Laden taped long ago for release later.

In the tape, bin Laden praised al-Shehri, saying he "recognised the truth" that Arab rulers were "vassals" of the West and had "abandoned the balance of (Islamic) revelation."

In the tape, al-Shehri also praised the losses the United States suffered in Somalia in the late 1990s.