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CNN Live At Daybreak

Al Qaeda Spokesman Says bin Laden Alive

Aired June 24, 2002 - 05:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. officials are downplaying a newly broadcast audiotape that says Osama bin Laden is still alive. An al Qaeda spokesman says the terrorist group is considering new targets in the United States.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has more on White House reaction to this audiotape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Osama bin Laden, alive and well, that according to an al Qaeda spokesman on a newly released audiotape playing on Arab TV. The bin Laden associate, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, claims Osama bin Laden is in good health, along with his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

He goes on to say, "Ninety-eight percent of the leadership of al Qaeda are safe. Our military and security systems are currently watching and investigating new targets."

While administration officials downplayed the significance of the tape, members of Congress say claims about bin Laden are consistent with U.S. intelligence.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: Our best intelligence estimate continues to be that he is alive and probably some place in those tribal areas on the western side of Pakistan.

MALVEAUX: Echoed by Afghanistan's new president, who says bin Laden's days are numbered.

HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT CHAIRMAN: Criminals can hide and it's very difficult to find an individual. But he will be found one day, sooner or later. That is for sure.

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), VICE CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: He's had a history of hiding, lying low and then striking again. But until we see some forensic evidence that he's dead, I assume he's alive.

MALVEAUX: An assumption that is now leading some critics to openly question the success of Bush's war on terror, specifically, U.S. military operations inside Afghanistan. SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: I think when you have 1,000 people in a mountain range you need to move whatever assets are necessary to guarantee you're going to capture the world's greatest terrorist. And it seems to me that to rely on Afghans who were weak before, had been on the other side, to go up and do the job is not a very good strategy.

MALVEAUX (on camera): The administration dismisses the criticism as politically motivated, saying from the very beginning it's maintained it may take months, even years, to capture bin Laden, and even then the war on terror would be far from over.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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