Osama bin Laden is to make a televised address to the Muslim world according to a report on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television network.
The report is based on a taped message from Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, supposedly bin Laden's spokesman.
In his message Abu Ghaith says bin Laden is alive and well and that the al-Qaeda network is ready to attack new US targets.
The message also includes a claim of responsibility for a deadly fire at a synagogue in Tunisia in April.
The Al-Jazeera television network says it received a recorded audiotaped message from Abu Ghaith, the Kuwaiti-born spokesman for bin Laden.
So far, there has been no reaction from the White House. It is not clear when the tape was made or how Al-Jazeera obtained it. No comment from the station was available.
Similar remarks, purportedly made by Abu Ghaith, appeared days earlier on an Arabic-language website that issues daily updates on the war in Afghanistan.
The tape and the website had some of the same quotes and statements, including that bin Laden would soon make a televised address to the Muslim world.
Abu Ghaith added: "I want to assure Muslims that Sheik Osama bin Laden... Is in good and prosperous health and all what is being rumoured about his illness and injury in Tora Bora has no truth."
Referring to recent US warnings about imminent al-Qaeda threats, Abu Ghaith said the group would choose the right time, place and method.
PA