A new audio message purported to be from Osama Bin Laden has called for Muslims to continue the fight to liberate Palestinian lands.

In a tape marking Israel's 60th anniversary, the speaker pledged to continue fighting the Israelis and not give up "a single inch of Palestine".

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Man guilty of murdering two women ... The tape's authenticity could not be verified. The last messages attributed to Bin Laden were aired in March.

The al-Qaeda leader is thought to be in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area.

Friday's message, which lasted about nine minutes, was posted on a website commonly used by al-Qaeda.

It came as US President George W Bush ended a trip to Israel coinciding with anniversary celebrations that began last week.

The voice on the tape said the fight for the Palestinian cause was the most important factor driving al-Qaeda's war with the West, and that it had fuelled the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.

In March, a message attributed to Bin Laden, and considered by US intelligence officials as authentic, threatened the EU over the publication of a cartoon satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

The following day, another message urged Muslims to join the insurgency in Iraq as the best way to support the Palestinians.

(BBC)

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