Qatar's al-Jazeera television broadcast this speech (in Arabic) from Osama bin Laden on Sunday, October 7, 2001 less than two hours after the United States and Britain launched their attack on Afghanistan. The station immediately provided the tape to all of the major news stations in the United States. It was also reported that CNN had an agreement with al-Jazeera whereby they had agreed to provide CNN with exclusive footage with a 6 hour delay for other stations, but Al-Jazeera obviously didn't comply. It is unclear when the videotaped statement was recorded, but it refers to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The statement was filmed against a rocky background with an assault rifle at his side. Bin Laden, wearing battle fatigues and a scarf and turban, appeared weary and looked mostly at the ground as he spoke, apparently without a script.
Taliban Foreign Affairs Ministry official Mohammed Qassem Halimi told al-Jazeera the Taliban had banned bin Laden from making public statements on television until after any U.S. attack. "We have now allowed him to release what is in his heart," he said.