Bin Laden tape stirs up White House race

A taped threat by Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden thrust security to the top of the US campaign agenda yesterday, just three days before voters cast ballots in a presidential race polls show to be a dead heat.

US President George W. Bush and Democratic Senator John Kerry both promised to hunt down and destroy Al-Qaeda after bin Laden's taped threat on Friday was broadcast on the Arab televisison channel Al Jazeera. But the rivals differed sharply on who would be most effective in executing that mission.

The tape, in which bin Laden openly taunted Bush and told Americans "your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush," caught the Kerry camp by surprise but only briefly interrupted a frenzied final dash for votes in Tuesday's tight election.

It surfaced ahead of an election that has focused on national security and the war in Iraq, but it was unclear if it would help Bush by reminding voters of his fight against terror or help Kerry by reminding them that bin Laden was still loose.

Bush vowed after the tape aired that "Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country." Kerry said "we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists."

But Bush objected when Kerry, during a local television interview, repeated his almost daily criticism that Bush allowed bin Laden to escape in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks when he "outsourced the job" to Afghan fighters.

"This is the worst kind of Monday-morning quarterbacking," Bush said of Kerry's comment. "It is especially shameful in light of the new tape by America's enemy."

Campaign aides said Kerry taped the interview before he knew what was in bin Laden's tape, while Bush was briefed on the tape earlier on Friday and still delivered an attack on Kerry afterwards, before the tape was broadcast.

The bin Laden tape surfaced late in a day when Bush and Kerry hunted for votes in the crucial swing states of Florida, New Hampshire and Ohio. A Reuters/Zogby tracking poll found them tied at 47 per cent nationally and other surveys showed the race a dead heat or gave Bush only a slight edge.

On the campaign trail, Bush evoked the September 11 attacks in an emotional appeal for support, while Kerry told voters America needed a fresh start after Bush's "catastrophic mismanagement."

Both campaigns searched frantically for new opportunities in the battle to accumulate the 270 electoral votes needed to win, with the Democratic bastion of Hawaii getting attention after polls showed a tight race there.

Yesterday, Bush was expected to campaign in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida, while Kerry was scheduled to visit the hotly contested states of Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio.

Vice President Dick Cheney will head to Hawaii today to make a play for the state's four electoral votes, while former Vice President Al Gore, who carried the state easily against Bush in 2000, and Kerry's daughter Alexandra were already there.

Bush and Kerry on Friday were both joined by special guests on the campaign trail, with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger giving Bush a boost in Ohio and rock legend Bruce Springsteen joining Kerry for the second consecutive day in Florida.

Bush began the day in New Hampshire, which he narrowly carried in 2000, where he was joined by relatives of Americans killed in the September 11 attacks.

Polls show Bush's leadership in the war on terror is his strongest selling point, and in a somber speech he reminded supporters of the attacks and the threats still faced by the United States.

"As we fight the terrorists, they will try to frighten us, they will test our will with their barbaric tactics. We must be resolved. So long as I am your president, we will not be held captive by fear," Bush said in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Kerry, barnstorming across Florida before the tape surfaced, criticised Bush's handling of the Iraq war and his failure to capture bin Laden, saying it left the United States more vulnerable to attacks.