White House Analyzing New Osama bin Laden Video Tape

Intelligence sources say the video message from Osama bin Laden, expected to show up on Internet websites within the next few hours is authentic and is evidence that the al Qaeda leader is still alive.

The White House has obtained a copy of a purported video by Osama bin Laden ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and has begun to analyze its contents, a Bush administration official said Friday.The assessment will include whether it is really bin Laden and if the tape is old or new.

The official would not discuss the contents or say whether any conclusion has been reached about whether it’s really the al-Qaida leader.

Analysts noted that al-Qaida tends to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary with a slew of messages, and the Department of Homeland Security said it had no credible information warning of an imminent threat to the United States.

Bin Laden’s appearance, if authentic, would be significant because he has not appeared in new video footage since Oct. 29, 2004, and he has not put out a new audiotape in more than a year, his longest period without a message.

One difference in his appearance was immediately obvious. The announcement had a still photo from the coming video, showing bin Laden addressing the camera, his beard fully black. In his past videos, bin Laden’s beard was almost entirely gray with dark streaks.

Bin Laden’s last video appearance came days before the 2004 presidential vote and was widely credited with giving a boost to President Bush’s re-election campaign.

UPDATE: AllahPundit has a good photoshop of what bin Laden may look like minus the beard over at HotAir.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey asks, “Is the beard a fake? Captains Blog