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Released Videotape of Bin Laden, Zawahiri Was Filmed Before Nov. 2001
By Christopher Isham
Sept. 23— U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that the videotape of Osama bin Laden played on an Arabic television channel two weeks ago and broadcast around the world, was shot in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan at least 21 months ago, well before U.S. forces stormed the region in late November 2001, a senior counterterrorist official told ABCNEWS.
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Analysts believe that this elaborate propaganda ploy demonstrates that al Qaeda is under considerable pressure to maintain the belief that bin Laden is alive and well and still in charge of al Qaeda. However, intelligence analysts also believe that it is in fact a strong indication that Zawahiri and bin Laden are no longer together, that bin Laden himself is either inaccessible, physically incapacitated or dead, and that Zawahiri is now the effective leader of al Qaeda.Link to full story.
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