From NY Post:

TAPE WORM OSAMA CLAIMS HE DIDN'T ANOINT ZAC AS 9/11 MONSTER

By NILES LATHEM

May 24, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden said yesterday that convicted conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui had no role in the 9/11 attacks - and he would know because he personally signed off on the plans for the bloodiest terror attack in U.S. history.

The new 4 1/2-minute audiotaped rant was sent out over the Internet by al Qaeda's As-Sahab Institute for Media Productions.

Bin Laden called Moussaoui an "honorable brother," but said he was not part of the hijack teams as he claimed on the witness stand at his death-sentence trial.

"The truth is he has no connection whatsoever with the events of September 11," the voice identified as bin Laden's said on the tape.

"I am certain of what I say because I was responsible for entrusting 19 brothers - Allah have mercy upon them - with those raids and I did not assign brother Zacarias to be with them on that mission," bin Laden added.

Although he has praised the 9/11 attacks in several statements, bin Laden, only once before, has claimed personal responsibility for the actions of the hijackers that killed 2,972 innocent people.

In his latest diatribe, titled "A Testimony to The Truth," bin Laden also said al Qaeda prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay who were captured in late 2001 and early 2002 have no connection with the atrocities and most have no connection to al Qaeda.

"My mentioning of these facts isn't out of hope that Bush and his party will treat our brothers fairly in their cases . . . but rather it is meant to expose the oppression, injustice and arbitrariness of your administration in using force and the reactions that result from that," bin Laden said.

U.S. intelligence officials are studying the latest tape. If it's real, it was recorded fairly recently because of its reference to Moussaoui's admission at a courthouse in Alexandria, Va., last month that he was part of the 9/11 plot.

Officials say bin Laden, widely believed to be hiding in remote areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, appears to be trying to show his supporters he's still in charge and able to issue statements on current events.

"Bin Laden does everything he can to disrupt American politics, disrupt American life. We shouldn't pay any attention to what he says," said House Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King (R-L.I.).

Moussaoui was transferred two weeks ago to the ultra-tough federal Supermax prison in Florence Colo., where he will serve a life sentence after a jury rejected U.S. prosecutors' appeals for the death penalty.