Melbourne threat in new 'al Qaeda' tape

A videotape televised today purportedly from a US-born member of al Qaeda threatened Melbourne and Los Angeles on the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

America's ABC News said it had received the video in Pakistan on Saturday local time.

It reported that the masked speaker appears to be Adam Gadahn, from southern California, who threatens attacks on the two cities, "Allah willing", and warns that the attackers will show no compassion.

"Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne," he said. "We love peace, but peace on our terms," the speaker said.

Victoria police said Australian authorities would analyse the video.

Inspector Craig Walsh was reported by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying: "We are working in conjunction with our federal and international counterparts to obtain a copy of the tape.

"Once obtained, the tape will need to be authenticated and its contents analysed and considered prior to making any further statements."

The National Threat Assessment Centre in Canberra has decided not to raise the threat level at the moment due to a lack of information, The Age newspaper in Melbourne reported.

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the American Department of Homeland Security, said US authorities were trying to verify the tape but "there's no specific intelligence to verify or substantiate" the claims and threats in it.

"We are certainly aware that al Qaeda seeks to strike the United States and our interests abroad," he said. "We maintain a strong and vigilant security posture."

Gadahn is believed to have been the young American who appeared in another threatening tape about a year ago.

ABC said the young man apparently converted to Islam at an Orange County, California, mosque as a teenager.

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton told ABC News his city had strong security measures already in place but was not ratcheting them up because of this particular tape.

"We have a very robust counterterrorism operation here in LA, similar to New York and Washington because we are always a prime target," Bratton said. He added that Gadahn seemed to be "a mouthpiece, a spokesperson, not an operative".

- REUTERS, HERALD ONLINE STAFF