THE Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera, said Osama bin Laden could be heard naming four of the Sept. 11 hijackers on a new videotape the station partially aired Monday.

　　There was no way to verify whether the voice heard on the video clip belonged to bin Laden or when the recording was made. The al-Qaida leader’s whereabouts are unknown and he did not appear in the excerpts shown across the Arab world on Monday.

　　“As we talk about the conquests of Washington and New York we talk about those men who changed the course of history,” a male voice, attributed to bin Laden, is heard saying in Arabic.

　　In the excerpts, he identified four of the Sept. 11 hijackers — Mohamed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah and Hani Hanjour — as ringleaders and prayed for their souls.

　　The 19 hijackers were described as “great men who deepened the roots of faith in the hearts of the faithful . . . and torpedoed the schemes of the crusaders.”

　　Bin Laden has not been heard from since shortly after the U.S.-led bombing campaign began in Afghanistan last October.

　　Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, which has aired several al-Qaida videotapes since last year’s attacks, said it would air the latest video in full Thursday.

　　The tape also included old footage of several young men identified as some of the hijackers during training last year in Afghanistan. They appeared to be looking at maps, including one of the Washington D.C. area.

　　At least one computer and several books in English could be seen sitting on desks and a hand was shown pointing at the site of the Pentagon on one map.

　　Al-Jazeera said over the weekend that one of its correspondents had interviewed two top al-Qaida fugitives wanted over the terrorist attack. According to the interview, reportedly conducted in June with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh, the U.S. Congress was the fourth American landmark on al-Qaida’s Sept. 11 hit list and the terror group had also considered striking U.S. nuclear facilities.(SD-Agencies)