By Henry Meyer, Bloomberg

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) — Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner on Dec. 25 and vowed more attacks, in audio comments broadcast by al-Jazeera television today.

“God willing, our raids on you will continue as long as your support for the Israelis continues,” the recording said. Bin Laden said in the taped comments that his message was intended for U.S. President Barack Obama. He also praised Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is facing trial over the Detroit bomb plot, as a “hero and mujahid,” or Islamic fighter.

“America won’t dream of security until we live that security as a reality in Palestine,” the al-Qaeda leader was heard saying in the broadcast, linking Abdulmutallab to the “heroes of 9/11.” The authenticity of the recording couldn’t immediately be verified.

The Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda said it was behind a Christmas Day plot in which Abdulmutallab was charged with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight carrying 278 passengers as it approached Detroit.

Several hundred al-Qaeda members in remote tribal areas of Yemen may be preparing for similar attacks in the U.S. and elsewhere, Obama’s assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, John Brennan, said on Jan. 3.

‘Very Significant’

The al-Qaeda leader’s decision to associate himself directly with the Detroit plane bomb attempt is “very significant,” said Rohan Gunaratna, head of the Singapore-based International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research. “This clearly demonstrates that Bin Laden considers this particular attack as an extension of his organization.”

Colonel Richard Kemp, commander of U.K. troops in Afghanistan in 2003, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that Bin Laden’s message may “presage further activity” like the Detroit attempted bombing.

While there are no apparent operational links between Bin Laden and the Yemeni arm of al-Qaeda, the terrorist group’s leader is “using the opportunity to generate support for his organization,” Gunaratna said in a phone interview from Kuwait. The recording is consistent with earlier Bin Laden broadcasts and appears genuine, he said.

The recording lasted less than a minute. Bin Laden last year released two audio tapes in September, one addressed to the American people on Sept. 14, and another message to the people of Europe on Sept. 25.

Authenticity

The White House said it couldn’t confirm the authenticity of the tape. “We have no independent confirmation that that is in fact his voice,” presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett said today on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The president is committed to going after al-Qaeda and all of its affiliates and bringing them to justice.”

Al-Qaeda strengthened its networks in Yemen, the poorest Arab country, when a crackdown in neighboring Saudi Arabia that began in 2004 forced many to flee there. The group in August tried to assassinate the top Saudi anti-terrorist official, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, in an attack mounted from Yemen.

Located at the tip of the Arabian peninsula, Yemen has mountainous landscape similar to the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where U.S. authorities believe Bin Laden may be hiding.

Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, told U.S. investigators he received training and explosives materials in Yemen, where he spent three months officially studying Arabic until early December, according to Yemeni authorities.