Bin Laden's threat won't Australia

Canberra (Agencies): Australia declared on Wednesday that it would not be intimidated by new threats purportedly made against it by terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

"I'm quite sure that I speak for all Australians in saying that we won't be intimidated in relation to the policies we pursue by threats from terrorists," Prime Minister John Howard said.

He was reacting to an audiotape broadcast on the Arabic-language television station al-Jazeera in which a person claiming to be bin Laden threatened U.S. allies, including Australia.

In the tape broadcast by al-Jazeera, the speaker hailed anti-Western attacks in Bali, Kuwait, Yemen and Jordan and last month's hostage-taking in Moscow.

If authenticated, the tape would be the clearest evidence yet that bin Laden survived the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan that toppled his Taliban hosts and sought to flush out al-Qaeda, which Washington blames for last year's Sept. II attacks.

In Washington, U.S. officials said the voice on the tape would be analyzed to determine if it was indeed that of the al-Qaeda leader. "We've seen these reports, and we will analyze the recording. We don't know if it's him or not," said Scan McCormack, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

Jazeera, which did not say how it obtained the tape, has often carried statements by bin Laden and his lieutenants. The most recent event mentioned in the tape took place on Oct. 28.

"Do your governments not know the White House gang are the biggest butchers of the era?... Why should your governments ally themselves with America," said the man, whose voice resembled that of bin Laden.

He accused the United States and its allies of harm-ing Muslims in the Palestinian territories and other areas and warned: "As you kill you will be killed."

The speaker said his message was particularly addressed to the people of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Australia.

"The road to safety (for the West) starts with stopping aggression," he said.

"We had warned Australia about its participation in Afghanistan (war)... It ignored the warning until it woke up to the sound of explosions in Bali," he said.

He stopped short of claiming responsibility for last month's attack on a nightclub on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali which killed more than 180 people, many of them Australians.

Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer said it was possible the tape was genuine and Australian intelligence services were currently assessing its veracity.

"If these were the words of Osama bin Laden or on behalf of Osama bin Laden or the al-Qaeda terrorist network, it simply reinforces the Australian government's... resolve and determination to be successful in the campaign against terrorism," he told reporters.

"It underlines the vicious, bloodthirsty nature of the terrorists we are dealing with and it reinforces our determination to make sure that we stand up against these people

Australia won't be black-mailed by Osama bin Laden in its foreign policy and its international position. We will stand up for the things we believe in."

Downer said the possibility of bin Laden still being alive underlined the reality that winning the war on terror would take years, not weeks or months.