Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility for Explosion in Tunesia

Speculation that al Qaeda was behind an explosion at a Jewish Synagogue in Tunisia in April that killed 19 people, including 14 Germans, appeared confirmed over the weekend, when a spokesman for the terrorist network claimed responsibility.

The spokesman also said Osama bin Laden was alive and well and warned America that there more attacks were planned.

Despite an international effort to wipe out the expansive terrorist network, the spokesman said al Qaeda still has "the capability to threaten America and execute such threats. The few coming days and months will prove to the whole world, Allah willing, the truth of what we are saying."

The message was recorded on an audio tape aired by the Arabic-language news network, al Jazeera, on Sunday. The network said the message came from Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti-based al Qaeda spokesman. But there was no way to independently verify the origin of the remarks.

Israel-Palestinian conflict was the cause

Ghaith said the tourist attack on the island of Jerba on April 11 was carried out by a man, "who could not see his brothers in Palestine being killed, slaughtered, their blood spilled and honor violated and he looks around him and sees Jews in the city of Jerba wandering and enjoying and practicing their rituals at will."

Investigators believe the suspect, Tunisian Nizar Ben Mohammed Nawar, died in the attack, in which he drove a fuel-filled tanker truck into the historic synagogue on Jerba. The collision unleashed a fireball that burned a busload of European tourists visiting the synagogue.

Authorities confirmed there had been a German connection early on after discovering Nawar called a German number before the attack. The number belonged to a Duisberg man long under observation by German intelligence. Police took him into custody and searched his apartment a day after the attacks, but let him go a few hours later.

A spokeswoman for German Interior Minister Otto Schily said the ministry believed there were strong ties between the attack and al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda leadership safe, says spokesman

Around "98 percent" of the leadership of al Qaeda were "safe and sound", Ghaith said in the taped message. An al Jazeera anchor said Ghaith told the network that fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar was still alive and doing well.

The US command responsible for hunting down al Qaeda and Taliban members in eastern Afghanistan dismissed Ghaith’s comments. Estimates that almost all of the terrorist group’s top members are still alive were "wishful thinking," US Army Colonel Roger King told reporters on Monday.