(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-12 06:41

The messages end a long dry spell for bin Laden - his last video had been released in October 2004, while his last audiotape came out in July 2006.

During that lull, numerous videos and audiotapes were issued by his deputy, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri, who many analysts believe has a more direct hand in al-Qaida and has led the rebuilding of the network's command since the 2001 US assault on Afghanistan.

Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert and professor at Georgetown University, said the evidence indicates al-Zawahri likely holds al-Qaida's operational reins, heading meetings of the network's top leadership in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But Bin Laden is "still the marquee name ... wheeled out in dramatic fashion," Hoffman said.

"He's a brand name, probably one of the most recognizable brand names in the world. So he has tremendous value in that respect. He's the headliner."

Tuesday's video was the latest in an al-Qaida tradition: Every year on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack it has commemorated one or two of the 19 suicide hijackers by releasing their videotaped "last will and testament."

This year, the video included the testament of Waleed al-Shehri, one of the hijackers on American Airlines Flight 11 that hit the World Trade Center. An audiotape of bin Laden introduced the testament, played over a still photo of the terror leader taken from Saturday's video.

Bin Laden praised al-Shehri, saying he "recognized the truth" that Arab rulers are "vassals" of the West and have "abandoned the balance of (Islamic) revelation."

"It remains for us to do our part. So I tell every young man among the youth of Islam: It is your duty to join the caravan (of martyrs) until the sufficiency is complete and the march to aid the High and Omnipotent continues," Bin Laden said.

One thing the messages may show is that bin Laden feels secure enough to emerge.

"It means he is freer to move and to talk and he is in (a) safer place. Now he is more confident to communicate to the media," said Abdul Bari Atwan, editor of the pan-Arab newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi and author of "The Secret History of al-Qaida."

By issuing two tapes in just four days, "he is saying, 'I'm back,'" Atwan said.

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