BEIRUT, Lebanon — The first video image of Osama bin Ladenin nearly two years was broadcast on Al-Jazeera TV Wednesday, theeve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The al-Qaidaleader was shown walking through rocky terrain with his top aide,both carrying assault rifles.
In an eight-minute audiotape accompanying the video footage, aspeaker identified as bin Laden praises the ''great damage to theenemy'' on Sept. 11 and mentions five hijackers by name. On asecond tape, a voice said to be that of chief deputy Aymanal-Zawahri threatens more attacks on Americans and calls on Iraqiguerrillas to ''bury'' U.S. troops.
According to terrorism experts, such tapes reassure al-Qaidasympathizers that the terror network is still a force and itsleaders still active and in seeming good health. A tape showing binLaden would be crucial to that effort and the timing -- a daybefore the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, blamed on al-Qaida-- highly symbolic.
Al-Jazeera said the tapes were produced in late April or earlyMay, but the Arab satellite channel did not say how or when itobtained them. The backdrop in the video resembled the borderregions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where U.S. officialsbelieve bin Laden is hiding out.
U.S. intelligence officials will review the tapes to try todetermine if they are authentic and when and where they were made,officials in Washington said.
Messages from al-Qaida leaders are sometimes viewed as presagingan attack.
''This is another reminder that they continue to plot to attackus and to attack freedom,'' Sean McCormack, a spokesman for theNational Security Council, said Wednesday.
President Bush, asked about the tape during a tour of forensicslabs at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., said he had not heard ityet.
The Department of Homeland Security previously said it did notplan to raise the national terror threat level above its currentposition at yellow, the third highest of five color-coded levels.The emergence of the tape did not initially appear to alter thatcourse.
The voice identified as bin Laden praises the Sept. 11hijackers.
''Those men caused great damage to the enemy and disturbed theirplans,'' the speaker says, calling them true believers who shouldbecome an ideal for other believers.
He makes no direct threatening remarks, but the voice said to beal-Zawahri threatens more attacks on Americans.
''What you saw until now are only the first skirmishes,''al-Zawahri allegedly says in a 12-minute tape. ''The true epic hasnot begun.''
A religious song could be heard in the background of the allegedbin Laden audiotape. Both tapes were translated from the Arabic byThe Associated Press.
The video image of bin Laden appeared to be the first since hewas shown at a dinner with associates on Nov. 9, 2001 inAfghanistan. That tape was made public a month later.
The tape follows several attributed to other al-Qaida figureswho made a point of saying bin Laden was still active in the fightagainst the West. The last such message, attributed to an al-Qaidaspokesman, was aired on the Arab television station Al-ArabiyaSept. 7. In August, an audiotape attributed to al-Zawahri alsostressed that bin Laden was alive and well.
Bin Laden was last heard from on April 7, exhorting Muslims in atape obtained by AP to rise up against Kuwait, Saudi Arabia andother governments he claimed were ''agents of America.'' Thataudiotape, which CIA analysts said appeared to be authentic, made avague reference to the Iraq conflict, although it was not specificenough to determine whether it had been recorded before or afterthe Iraqi war began on March 20.
The videotape broadcast Wednesday shows bin Laden and al-Zawahridressed in loose-fitting Afghan clothing and flat, rolled brim capsknown as pakuls. They walk slowly up and down a rocky hill dottedwith green plants.
In one shot, bin Laden, in his late 40s and more than 6 feettall, is assisted by a walking stick in his right hand and wears ablanket over his left shoulder. He shows signs of age since hislast video image two years ago; his beard is whiter.
In several sections of the video, both men carry Soviet-madeassault rifles.
The two climb to the hilltop and sit resting, looking out overtrees and rocky outcroppings, the camera behind them. The videoappeared well-planned and well-shot, likely with bin Laden's fullcooperation, as he glances over his shoulder at the camera severaltimes.
Neither bin Laden nor his aide speak on the video, whichappeared to be shot in one day. The light in each segment is thesame and bin Laden's clothing is also the same. He appears to allowthe cameraman time to move ahead to get a series of shots of theal-Qaida leader walking toward the camera. Bin Laden several timeslooks over his shoulder, giving the impression he is beingfollowed. At one point he waves at the camera.
In one scene a small cluster of wildflowers can be seen,suggesting -- given the apparent high altitude at which the videowas shot -- that the videotape was made in early summer. At such analtitude wild flowers would not be blooming in early September.
Al-Jazeera said the film was produced by a company calledAl-Sahhab, which it said ''specialized in general in preparing filmmaterial for al-Qaida.''
In an audiotape, the speaker said to be al-Zawahri refers toU.S. troops in Iraq -- an indication that it was made afterAmerican troops entered Iraq last March.
''We salute the mujahedeen brothers in Iraq and press on theirhands and ask Allah to bless their sacrifices and valor in fightingthe crusaders,'' the speaker says. ''We tell you that Allah is withyou and the (Islamic) nation supports you. ... Bury them in theIraqi graveyard.''
The voice attributed to al-Zawahri also refers to the Sept. 11anniversary.
''On the second anniversary of the raids on New York andWashington we challenge America and its crusade, which is teeteringfrom its wounds in Afghanistan and Iraq,'' the speaker says. ''Wetell them that we do not seek to kill, but we will chop off thehand which seeks to inflict harm on us, God willing.''
Bin Laden is believed to have been in the border region sinceDecember 2001, when U.S. and Afghan troops surrounded a giant cavecomplex in the eastern Afghan region of Tora Bora. On Dec. 10,troops intercepted a radio transmission that was believed to havecome from the al-Qaida leader.
U.S. warplanes blanketed the area with bombs, but the Americansrelied largely on local Afghan forces on the ground. Hundreds ofal-Qaida suspects are believed to have escaped across the borderinto Pakistan, and bin Laden may have been among them.
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