Bin Laden Message Praises Protests

In an audio message recorded shortly before his death, Osama bin Laden praises the protests sweeping the Middle East. In it, the al-Qaeda leader predicts that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world and urges Muslims to take advantage of a "rare historic opportunity" to rise up, US monitors said.

The 12-minute, 37-second audio message posted on jihadist forums on Wednesday US time [Thursday AEST] by al-Qaeda’s media arm As-Sahab addresses Muslims on the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, SITE Intelligence said.

Speaking from beyond the grave in the posthumous message, Bin Laden recommends setting up a council to offer revolutionary advice and decide the best timing to spread revolt across the Muslim world.

"A delay may cause the opportunity to be lost, and carrying it out before the right time will increase the number of casualties," bin Laden says in the audio message, according to SITE’s translation.

"I think that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world, with permission from Allah."

A covert US Navy SEAL team killed bin Laden on May 2 at his Pakistan compound in Abbottabad before burying him at sea.

Though both bin Laden and the West have supported the Arab protest movements, their ends are very different. The West hopes the movements will lead to democratic reforms.

Bin Laden and his followers saw many Middle East governments as corrupt and hoped their collapse would lead to strict adherence to Islamic law.