President Bush yesterday described as "preposterous" claims that the Osama bin Laden tape released on Thursday was doctored. "This is Bin Laden unedited," he told journalists in the Oval Office, insisting that the tape was a "devastating declaration of guilt" by a murderer of innocents.
Asked if he wanted bin Laden captured alive, he said "I don't care. Dead or alive. I don't know if we'll get him tomorrow, or a month from now, or a year from now, I really don't know, but we are going to get him." The State Department is making the tape widely available with Arabic subtitles.
Earlier the President's spokesman, Mr Ari Fleischer, said that although they don't know where he is the administration believes that bin Laden is still in Afghanistan.
ABC reports that the US authorities, determined to ensure that any body found resembling the Al-Qaeda leader is actually him have gone to the lengths of acquiring DNA samples from his Saudi family. Bin Laden, on whose head there is a $25 million reward, is reported to travel with a number of look-alikes.
Responding to concerns that the US failure to criticise the Israelis may jeopardise the US-led international coaltion against terrorism, Mr Fleischer continued to place the onus for breaking the violent impasse in the West Bank and Gaza on the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat.
He said that Mr Bush had made it clear to the Israelis they should not target Mr Arafat and that, unlike the Israelis, the US will not cut its links with Mr Arafat. But said that the President was "confident that Yasser Arafat has the ability to take action if he so desires". The crisis was a "test of Yasser Arafat", Mr Fleischer said, and it was up to him to demonstrate on which side he stood and that he "can lead the Palestinians".
Mr Fleischer said that the mission of the US special envoy, Mr Anthony Zini, would continue with visits to countries in the region.
Applying a diplomatic squeeze on the Palestinian leader, the Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, urged European governments this week not to invite Mr Arafat to visit. Mr Powell's message to Berlin, Paris and London was "hold his feet to the fire", a senior US official said.
The Secretary of Defence, Mr Don Rumsfeld, left for Belgium where he will hold talks with NATO on the conduct of the war and on relations with Russia. He will then travel on to Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia.
Meanwhile, two Indian men whose detention a day after the September 11th attacks fueled speculation they were involved, have been charged with credit card fraud, court papers showed yesterday. Police say they have no connection with terrorism.
