British Foreign Secretary assumes voice of Bin Laden on aired tape authentic

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 06, 2004

British Foreign Secretary assumes voice of Bin Laden on aired tape authentic

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Monday he believed the voice on an audiotape aired Sunday purporting to be Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born al-Qaida leader, was authentic.

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British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Monday he believed the voice on an audiotape aired Sunday purporting to be Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born al-Qaida leader, was authentic.

The tape, broadcast by the al-Jazeera TV channel on Sunday, urges Muslims to continue a holy war in Iraq.

"Let's assume that it was him," Straw told BBC Radio. Asked if that was a safe assumption, Straw said: "Yes."

"There is no question that the al-Qaida organization and its networks are still around, that's palpable, and so far as we know Osama bin Laden is still alive," Straw added.

"Searching for him (bin Laden) remains a key issue," Straw said.

The last audiotape purported to be bin Laden was broadcast by al-Jazeera last October.

Washington believes bin Laden masterminded the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. US forces began bombing Afghanistan the following month to drive out the Taliban, which harbored bin Ladenand al-Qaida.

Since then, the al-Qaida leader's whereabouts have been unknown.

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