Bin Laden hails Mutallab, warns of more terror attacks

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has claimed responsibility for the botched Christmas Day bombing attempt of a US airliner and vowed further strikes on US targets, in an audio message broadcast Sunday.

The statement carried by Al-Jazeera satellite television warned Washington that the attack was meant as a similar message to that of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US carried out by 19 Al-Qaeda militants who hijacked airliners and crashed them into buildings.

Bin Laden, in the statement, praised as a “hero” Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who allegedly tried to detonate explosives on a Northwest Airline over Detroit on December 25 but was foiled when passengers pounced on him.

“The message that was conveyed through the (attacked) plane of the hero Umar Farouk is to stress earlier messages delivered to you by the heroes of the 11 September attack, he said.

“That (message) is, that America should not dream of security until we enjoy it as a reality in Palestine,” he added.

The authenticity of the brief audio statement could not immediately be verified but Al-Jazeera said the voice was that of bin Laden.