A message purporting to be from Osama bin Laden has been released online in which the head of al-Qaeda praises the dead terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and warns George Bush not to be "too happy" about his death.

In the 19 minute taped message, which has been posted on an Islamic website, the voice of bin Laden says that the banner of al-Qaeda in Iraq will be passed from "one lion of Islam to another", and demands that the US President hand over the body of "the hero" to his family.

He defends attacks by al-Zarqawi against civilians, saying that the militant was acting on orders from al-Qaeda to kill anyone who supported the Amercians in Iraq.

While the recording's authenticity has not yet been verified, it has a split screen with moving images of al-Zarqawi, and a still picture of bin Laden. It also bears the logo of As-Sahab, the al-Qaeda production branch that releases all its messages.

No new video images of the al-Qaeda leader have been seen since October 2004.

Al-Zarqawi, 39, was killed in a US air strike on a his safe house in a small village northeast of Baghdad on June 7. Mr Bush hailed his death as a "severe blow to al-Qaeda".

But bin Laden says that al-Qaeda will continue with operations against the US and its allies.

"We will continue, God willing, to fight you and your allies everywhere," he says in the recording, "in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Somalia and Sudan until we waste all your money and kill your men."

He praises the dead al-Qaeda leader effusively, describing him as "a lion of Islam and jihad who does honour not just to his family and tribe but to the whole of mankind".

"Al-Zarqawi’s story will live forever with the stories of the nobles, so don’t cry over one who is not missing," bin Laden said. "He can teach the world a lesson on how to seize freedom ... and how to resist tyrants.

"Even if we lost one of our greatest knights and and princes, we are happy that we have found a symbol for our great Islamic nations, one that the mujahedeen will remember and praise in poetry and in stories secretly and aloud."

The CIA normally does a technical analysis to ascertain who is speaking in the messages posted on Islamic websites. If verified, it will be the fourth message put out this year by bin Laden.

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