20 May,2011 06:51 AM IST | | Agencies
In an audio message recorded shortly before his death, Osama bin Laden praises the protests sweeping the Middle East.
In it, the al-Qaeda leader predicts that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world and urges Muslims to take advantage of a "rare historic opportunity" to rise up, US monitors said.
In the video, Osama addresses Muslims on the revolutions sweeping the Middle East
The 12-minute, 37-second audio message posted on jihadist forums by al-Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab yesterday addresses Muslims on the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, Intelligence said.
Speaking from beyond the grave in the message, bin Laden recommends setting up a council to offer revolutionary advice and decide the best timing to spread revolt across the Muslim world.
"A delay may cause the opportunity to be lost, and carrying it out before the right time will increase the number of casualties," bin Laden said in the audio message, according to translation.
"I think that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world, with permission from Allah."
A covert US Navy SEAL team killed bin Laden on May 2 at his Pakistan compound in Abbottabad before burying him at sea.
Though both bin Laden and the West have supported the Arab protest movements, their ends are very different. The West hopes the movements will lead to democratic reforms.
Bin Laden and his followers saw many Middle East governments as corrupt and hoped their collapse would lead to strict adherence to Islamic law.
Osama is set for the ultimate indignity he will become the subject of a porn parody. Filmmakers at Hustler Video are set to lampoon bin Laden's life in This Ain't Bin Laden XXX.
