More attacks threatened by al Qaeda

CAIRO, Egypt -- al Qaeda threatened faster, harder strikes against the United States and Israel in a statement attributed to the group that appeared on a militant web site Sunday.\n"The Jewish Crusader coalition will not be safe anywhere from the fighters' attacks," the audio statement said, using a term common among Islamic militants for what they see as a U.S.-Israeli alliance.\n"We will hit the most vital centers and we will strike against its strategic operations with all possible means."\nThe statement was attributed to al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. The site, which has posted previous statements attributed to the terror network, included what appeared to be a picture of Abu Ghaith taken from video.\nThe Web site also posted a text version of the statement.\nThe whereabouts of Abu Ghaith, along with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, have been a mystery since the network was chased out of its haven in Afghanistan by U.S. bombing following the Sept. 11 attacks.\n"We will chase the enemy with terrifying weapons," the statement said. "We have to widen our fighting fronts and conduct more concentrated and faster operations ... so (the enemy) feels unsafe and unstable on land, air and sea."\nThe statement also said a purported al Qaeda claim of responsibility for the Nov. 28 attacks on Israelis in Kenya was genuine. That claim was posted on several other Islamic sites last week.\nThe attacks in Israel included a hotel bombing that killed 10 Kenyans, three Israelis and the bombers, and a botched attempt to shoot down an Israeli charter plane.\nSunday's statement said al Qaeda does not usually claim responsibility for attacks, but would do so "according to the relevant circumstances."\nU.S. officials have said they considered the claim of responsibility for the Kenya attacks to be credible.\nTerrorism experts believe al Qaeda has made use of the Internet, which enables people to communicate cheaply, widely and anonymously. It has been difficult to trace and confirm postings attributed to al Qaeda that appear periodically on several sites.