RIYADH, July 30: The Al Qaeda network plans a major anti-US attack, possibly next month, after which its leader, Osama bin Laden, will reappear on television, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

The Saudi pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat, which on Monday reported that Osama might have been killed or seriously injured in US raids on Afghanistan, quoted “sources linked to aides” of the Al Qaeda chief via the Internet.

Osama bin Laden “is alive and will appear in a TV videotape after the operation is carried out to confirm that he is alive and will go on fighting America,” the sources said.

They did not say whether the planned attack would target US forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, but said it might be carried out next month.

Asharq Al-Awsat pointed to speculation that Al Qaeda might strike before the first anniversary of the Sept 11 tragedy.

The same newspaper had reported on Monday that Osama’s eldest son, Saad, had taken over the command of Al Qaeda “since the US offensive against Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan”.

Quoting “informed sources”, it said this disclosure “substantiates the theory that (Osama) bin Laden was killed or seriously wounded” in the US-led military campaign.

The sources cited by the paper on Tuesday said Osama would, during his forthcoming TV appearance, speak of “Al Qaeda’s success in containing the US attacks, reorganizing on the basis of engaging in guerilla warfare inside Afghanistan, and staging attacks against US interests in various countries”.

Speculation about Osama’s fate has abounded since the US-led bombardment of Afghanistan began in October last year.—AFP