US intelligence agencies have ruled that the latest audio tape of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is authentic.
"Intelligence officials do believe that the tape is authentic and that it is Osama bin Laden," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. The recording sounded like al-Qaeda was "trying to recapture some lost ground," she said.
From the latest recording of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
In the audio recording aired yesterday, bin Laden urged insurgents in Iraq to unite with his al-Qaeda followers.
"The interest of the Islamic nation surpasses that of a group . . . the interest of the [Islamic] nation is more important than that of a state," said the voice on the tape, which was carried by al-Jazeera television.
The recording was aired as Iraq's government reported violence had dropped by 70 per cent since the end of June, following a series of US-led offensives against insurgents.
Iraq's wing of al-Qaeda is one of the key groups fighting US-led forces and the Baghdad government, but bin Laden's followers have angered other Sunni groups and tribes through their hardline interpretations of Islam and indiscriminate killing of civilians.
Bin Laden acknowledged that some insurgents were involved in "wrongdoings", mentioning a particular group of holy commandments that includes killings. He did not give further details.
"The mujahideen are the children of this nation . . . they do right things and wrong things," bin Laden said. "Those who are accused of violations of God's commandments should face trial," he added.
"I advise . . . our brothers, particularly those in al-Qaeda wherever they may be, to avoid fanatically following a person or a group," he said.