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01/23/2006:

"Bin Laden expert skeptical about latest purported bin Laden tape"

A Duke professor says he is doubtful about Thursday's audiotape from Osama bin Laden. Bruce Lawrence has just published Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden, a book translating bin Laden's writing. He is skeptical of Thursday's message.

"It was like a voice from the grave," Lawrence said.

He has doubts about the tape, and thinks bin Laden is dead. Lawrence
recently analyzed more than 20 complete speeches and interviews of the al Qaida leader for his book. He says the new message is missing several key elements.

"There's nothing in this from the Koran. He's, by his own standards, a faithful Muslim," Lawrence said. "He quotes scripture in defense of his actions. There's no quotation from the Koran in the excerpts we got, no reference to specific events, no reference to past atrocities."

While the CIA confirms the voice on the tape is bin Laden's, Lawrence questions when it was recorded. He says the timing of its release could be to divert attention from last week's US air strike in Pakistan. The strike targeted bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, and [reportedly] killed four leading al Qaeda figures along with civilians.