A new al-Qaeda videotape posted Sunday on a Web site featured a short, undated clip of Osama bin Laden praising martyrdom. The bin Laden clip, which lasted less than a minute, was part of a 40-minute video featuring purported al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan paying tribute to fellow militants who have been killed in the country.
Bin Laden glorified those who die in the name of jihad, saying even the Prophet Muhammad "had been wishing to be a martyr."
"The happy (person) is the one that God has chosen him to be a martyr," stated bin Laden.
Bin Laden was last heard from in a July 1, 2006 audio tape in which he voiced support for the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
In another clip, a man identified as Mujahid Haidarah al-Hawn was shown sitting in front of a tree with an AK-47 paying tribute to a Syrian fighter, Osama al-Hamawi, who died in an air raid in Afghanistan. "I lived with him for four years," said al-Hawn. "He used to be my emir (commander) . . . He was a brother with extreme modesty."
