Al-Jazeera plays footage of bin Laden meeting with Sept. 11 hijackers

Al-Jazeera aired on Thursday what it called previously unshown footage in which al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is seen meeting with some of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Photo: Al-Jazeera plays footage of bin Laden meeting with Sept. 11 hijackers

The station did not say how it obtained the video, which was produced by As-Sahab, al-Qaida's media branch.

The video showed bin Laden sitting with his former lieutenant Mohammed Atef and Ramzi Binalshibh, another suspected planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings.

Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001. Binalshibh was captured four years ago in Pakistan and is currently in U.S. custody, and this week U.S. President George W. Bush announced plans to put him on military trial, reports AP.

In the video, Bin Laden was wearing a dark robe and white head gear walking outdoors in a mountainous area. He smiled as he received several of what the tape said was several of the Sept. 11 hijackers.