JERUSALEM (JTA) — American support for Israel led to the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden said in an audio message.
The message, purported to be from the al-Qaida leader in hiding, was released by al-Qaida and posted Monday on radical Islamist Web sites.
"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," bin Laden said in the message. "The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine."
Al-Qaida planned and carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that killed nearly 3,000 people.
In his last message, released at the beginning of June, bin Laden disparaged President Obama’s Cairo outreach speech to the Muslim world.
Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the mountains along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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