Bin Laden audio belatedly praises Arab Spring

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Al Qaeda has released an audio recording, reportedly by Osama bin Laden, that praises the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia and encourages other uprisings throughout the region.

The posthumous recording is the first public statement by Al Qaeda on the so-called "Arab Spring." The group's previous silence on the prodemocracy uprisings, in which Islamists played only a supporting role, led many to say that Al Qaeda had been marginalized by the movement. The audio message, which Al Qaeda said was recorded a week before his May 2 death, could be a signal that the group is belatedly trying to insert itself into the mostly domestic, secular movements.

"The [Muslim] nation was always getting ready for the victory that is rising from the eastern horizon, but the surprise was that the sun of the revolution rose from the Maghreb, the west. The light of the revolution sparked in Tunisia, and the nation felt the relief, the faces of the people got brightened, and the throats of the rulers got coarser, and the Jews got terrified because the coming of the promised day," Mr. bin Laden said in the recording, reported by CNN from a translation by SITE Intelligence Group.

"With the overthrow of the tyrant, the definitions of fear, humiliation, and surrender have fallen as well. The new meanings of freedom, pride, audacity, and courage were risen. The winds of change came, in a will of liberation."

The uprisings in Libya, Syria, and Yemen are noticeably absent from bin Laden's message, which Al Qaeda posted on several online jihadi forums. An unnamed US official speaking with CNN called bin Laden's move to "join the bandwagon on the uprisings" months after they began "puzzling." The official said it was a "head scratcher" why he didn't praise the Libyan revolution – bin Laden hated Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.

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