Osama bin Laden tape praises Arab Spring uprisings
Al-Qaeda has released an audio recording by Osama bin Laden in which he lavished praise on the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and called for more "tyrants" to be toppled.
Islamists have played little role in the uprisings that began in Tunisia leading analysts to suggest that al-Qaeda had lost its relevance to angry Muslim youth even before bin Laden was shot dead by US special forces.
But in a message apparently recorded a week before his death, bin Laden tried to wrest the initiative back from a new generation of leaders by hijacking their largely secular protest movements.
"The sun of the revolution has risen from the Maghreb," he said during a 12-minute video posted on Islamist websites. "The light of the revolution came from Tunisia. It has given the nation tranquillity and made the faces of the people happy."
Speaking from beyond the grave, he congratulated the leaders on their victories.
And he offered advice to the revolutionaries, suggesting they set up "operations rooms" to foment unrest and councils to advise new governments as they take power.
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