Washington: The White House has said that al-Qaeda leaders were ‘under a lot of pressure’ and ‘on the run’ following the release of a new audiotape by the group's chief, Osama bin Laden.
"The al-Qaeda leadership is on the run and under a lot of pressure. We are continuing to take the fight to the enemy abroad, and making it difficult for them to plan and plot against America," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on Sunday in Twenty-nine Palms, California.
The White House, citing intelligence officials, also said that the new videotape by Osama bin Laden is authentic.
"I just heard from the intelligence community that they believe it is authentic," McClellan told.
In the tape, which surfaced on al-Jazeera television on Sunday, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called on Muslim fighters to go to Sudan to wage war against "crusader thieves" and slammed the international isolation of the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
If the tape proves genuine, it would be the first from bin Laden since January 19.
The militant group Hamas has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in recent years, killing many civilians. Israel and the US State Department consider Hamas a terrorist organization, though it also operates an extensive social services network in the territories.
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