OSAMA BIN LADEN succeeded in further splitting Britain and the United States from key European allies yesterday as Washington, London and Berlin were divided about the significance of his latest taped warning.

The White House insisted that the message, directed to “our Muslim brothers in Iraq”, proved the link between Baghdad and al-Qaeda, of which America has been warning.

Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, visiting Washington, also said that bin Laden had made America and Britain’s case. “He sets out in detail a connection between his activities and the activities of al-Qaeda in Iraq. He said that, not us.”

But Germany swiftly dismissed any suggestion of a link, saying that bin Laden had provided no such details. “From what is known so far, we don’t think we can conclude that there is evidence of an axis or close link between the regime in Baghdad and al-Qaeda,” a spokesman for the German Government said.

The Pentagon and the CIA both prepared America for a possible terrorist attack after bin Laden’s sudden re-emergence in an audiotape broadcast by al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite station based in Qatar.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, and George Tenet, the CIA Director, said that while they had no specific intelligence pointing to an attack, the country should be on alert. “In the past there have been terrorist attacks that have followed the airing of such tapes. Whether there will be this time is not knowable,” said Mr Rumsfeld, at the Pentagon with Mr Hoon.

Security around America, which has been heightened since last week, was stepped up yesterday with the deployment of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles around Washington.

Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said that bin Laden had articulated President Bush’s “nightmare” of al-Qaeda teaming up with President Saddam Hussein. Branding the pairing an “unholy partnership”, Mr Fleischer cited bin Laden’s reference to people inside Iraq as “our Mujahidin brothers”, his insistence that it was the duty of all Muslims to “roll up their sleeves” and fight the US and his putting aside of al- Qaeda’s historic differences with Saddam’s Baath Party.

Sceptics seized on the same passages of bin Laden’s transcript. They said that in his own words, bin Laden had dismissed Saddam’s regime, disproving a link between them. At one point bin Laden said: “Fighting should be in the name of God only, not to seek victory for the ignorant governments that rule all Arab states, including Iraq.”

They also said that bin Laden’s message had addressed the future, urging Iraqis to fight America, but had not referred to a present tie.

In response, Mr Fleischer said that bin Laden had also suggested that Iraq and al-Qaeda lay aside their differences.

Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, used part of his case against Iraq before the UN Security Council last week to state: “Ambition and hatred are enough to bring Iraq and al-Qaeda together.”

Mr Fleischer compared bin Laden and Saddam with the alliance struck by Hitler and Stalin, saying: “The world cannot afford to be in denial.”

There were discrepancies about when Washington first knew of the tape. Mr Fleischer said the White House had received a transcript on Monday evening. But al-Jazeera said in a statement that they were given the 16-minute tape only on Tuesday evening, a few hours before it was broadcast.

Richard Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said that Washington had “heard a lot about this tape in advance”. One US official told The Times that the CIA had learnt about the tape “a couple of days” before it was broadcast. There was an internal debate about whether the Administration should try to pressure al-Jazeera not to air the tape, as it has tried unsuccessfully in the past. Instead, Washington had decided to make the best of it by announcing its existence in advance.

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