COMPLETE COVERAGE | FRONT LINES | AMERICA AT HOME | INTERACTIVES »

Bush: Tape will show bin Laden is guilty

Aid shipments for Afghan children paid for by donations from U.S. children begin to arrive in Turkmenistan on Monday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said a videotape of Osama bin Laden purportedly bragging about the September 11 terrorist attacks will show viewers that he is guilty of "incredible murder."

That tape will likely be released Wednesday, a senior administration official said.

"For those who see this tape, they'll realize that not only is he guilty of incredible murder, he has no conscience and no soul -- that he represents the worst of civilization," Bush said Monday during a White House ceremony at which a menorah was lit in honor of Hanukkah.

Bush said the tape "just reminded me what a murderer he is and how right and just our cause is."

The White House didn't plan to release the tape Monday because it wanted a nongovernment translator on hand to reduce possible speculation that the government doctored the Arabic-language tape, the official said.

Bin Laden makes it clear in the tape that he had advance knowledge about the planning and details of the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, officials said.

He also claims the hijackers trained to fly the planes didn't know some of their colleagues were on board. Some only found out what they would be doing as they boarded the plane, the officials said.

Bin Laden jokes that some of the 19 hijackers of the four jets did not know they were going to die, but thought they were to assist in a more routine hijacking, officials said. (Full story)

VIDEO Interim Afghan leader-designate Hamid Karzai told CNN's Nic Robertson what his priorities are for a new Afghanistan (December 10) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Correspondent Rick Leventhal reports from Camp Rhino, Afghanistan where John Walker is in custody (December 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     QUICKVOTE Should the U.S. release the videotape said to implicate bin Laden in the attacks? Yes No View Results    CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

Latest developments

• Diplomats expect Britain to announce Tuesday it will lead an international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Although the force won't be composed of United Nations peacekeepers, diplomats say the Afghan leadership and contributing countries want the United Nations to approve the operation. The U.N. Security Council is expected to authorize the force later this week.

• The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, which has served as a floating base for special operations personnel in the war against terrorism, has left the waters off the coast of Pakistan, a senior Pentagon official said Monday. Some Army troops stationed on the ship have returned to the United States, while others have moved to other bases in the region, the official said. The United States now has two carriers conducting operations as part of the continuing bombing of Afghanistan.

• The man who served as the army chief of staff for the Taliban is among the small number of captured Taliban officials being held by friendly Afghan forces, a senior Pentagon official said Monday. The man, identified as Mohammad Fazal, is currently being held by the forces of Northern Alliance commander Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, the official said. Another Pentagon official identified a second prisoner, described as a "senior Taliban official," as Mullah Dadullah.

• A top anti-Taliban commander in eastern Afghanistan said Monday his forces had pushed al Qaeda fighters entrenched at the top of the White Mountains near Tora Bora into a 1.5-square-mile area. Eastern Alliance commander Hazrat Ali said he is convinced bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are in that area. (Full story)

• CIA officer Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday with full honors. Spann, a paramilitary officer with the CIA, was killed during the Taliban prison uprising at Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan on November 25.

• A memorial service was held Monday at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, for three U.S. servicemen who were killed when a U.S. bomb missed its target in Afghanistan last week. The body of one of the soldiers, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, 32, will return to the United States Monday, an Army official said Sunday. (Full story)

• A Marine detachment moved into the long-vacant U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Monday as Washington worked toward re-establishing diplomatic ties with Afghanistan. The embassy could house a new corps of American officials in the Afghan capital, where an interim government is scheduled to take power December 22. (Full story)

• In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Kremlin and thanked the United States for its help in carrying out humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, especially in the area of the airport at Bagram. (Full story)

• The British prime minister's office said Monday that if bin Laden was captured by British forces in Afghanistan, he would be handed over immediately to U.S. officials. Downing Street released its position on the matter a day after two British officials indicated Britain would extradite bin Laden for trial in the United States only if assurances were given that he would not face the death penalty. (Full story)

• Fears of armed conflict for control of the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar subsided Sunday with word of an agreement on the city's new leadership, anti-Taliban officials said. Gul Agha, a former governor of Kandahar province, will return to that position pending the approval of Afghanistan's new interim government, which assumes power December 22. (Full story)

• Ethnic Uzbek warlord Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum will back Afghanistan's new interim government, according to a State Department official traveling with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. A few days ago, Dostum had said he wouldn't back the new government because his faction was not fairly represented.

• John Walker, the American who fought with the Taliban and was captured after a prison uprising near Mazar-e Sharif, has provided useful information to U.S. authorities, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Richard Myers told Fox News Sunday that Walker is not a prisoner of war, but a process was going on to determine his final status. (Full story)

• An Uzbek train loaded with wheat rolled across a bridge into Afghanistan Sunday afternoon, the first time in nearly five years the bridge has been used. The aid shipment across the Amu Darya river -- the first of many planned for the next few days -- is a major development in Afghanistan's post-Taliban history. (Full story)

• British journalist Robert Fisk has been attacked and beaten by a mob of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Fisk, 55, a foreign correspondent for the London-based Independent newspaper, was assaulted when his car broke down on the road between the border city of Quetta and Charnan. (Full story)

• The death toll from the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center has been revised down to 3,050, the New York Office of Emergency Management said Saturday. The number of missing was put at 582, the number of confirmed dead was 487 and the number of death certificates issued was 1,981. It was initially estimated that as many as 6,500 were killed when two hijacked jetliners crashed into the twin towers.