'BIN LADEN' CALL TARGETS ISRAEL !

Bin Laden is believed to be hiding near the Afghan-Pakistan border

A new audio message purported to be from Osama Bin Laden has called for Muslims to continue the fight to liberate Palestinian lands.

In a tape marking Israel's 60th anniversary, the speaker pledged to continue fighting the Israelis and not give up "a single inch of Palestine".

The tape's authenticity could not be verified. The last messages attributed to Bin Laden were aired in March.

The al-Qaeda leader is thought to be in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area.

Friday's message, which lasted about nine minutes, was posted on a website commonly used by al-Qaeda. It came as US President George W Bush ended a trip to Israel coinciding with anniversary celebrations that began last week.

The voice on the tape said the fight for the Palestinian cause was the most important factor driving al-Qaeda's war with the West, and that it had fuelled the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.

In March, a message attributed to Bin Laden, and considered by US intelligence officials as authentic, threatened the EU over the publication of a cartoon satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

The following day, another message urged Muslims to join the insurgency in Iraq as the best way to support the Palestinians.

BBC NEWS REPORT.