Al-Qaida releases posthumous Osama bin Laden's audio

CAIRO/WASHINGTON: Al-Qaida's media arm released in full a posthumous full audio message from Osama bin Laden in which he speaks on the wave of Arab protests sweeping the Mideast and North Africa in recent months, a US monitoring group said Wednesday. In the audio, the former al-Qaida leader, who was killed in a US raid on May 2 in Pakistan, praised revolutions sweeping the Arab world, and expressed joy at the victory of uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. As-Sahab released the audio speech in a 12-minute, 37-second video posted on jihadist forums on May 18, 2011, "addressing Muslims", SITE Intelligence reported. A covert US Navy SEAL team killed bin Laden on May 2 at his Pakistan compound in Abbotabad. The general command of al-Qaida confirmed bin Laden's death in a statement dated May 3, released on jihadist forums May 6, SITE added. The service said it would soon publish a translated transcript of the message. "In that statement, the group indicated that bin Laden had recorded an audio one week prior to his death, addressing the revolutions and offering advice and guidance," the US monitoring group said. Meanwhile al-Qaida has chosen a former Egyptian special forces officer as interim leader of the violent extremist group following the death this month of Osama bin Laden, CNN and al-Jazeera reported on Tuesday. Saif al-Adel, a top Al-Qaeda strategist and senior military leader, has been tapped as "caretaker" chief of the group, CNN reported, citing former Libyan militant Noman Benotman, who has renounced al-Qaida's ideology.