On Web video, bin Laden praises slain Zarqawi as 'lion'

Bin Laden and Zarqawi both appear in still photos on the video.
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Osama bin Laden praised slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the "lion of holy war" in a new videotape posted on the Web today.
The 19-minute message shows an old still photo of bin Laden in a split-screen next to images of al-Zarqawi taken from a previous video. A voice resembling bin Laden's narrates a tribute to the Jordanian-born militant, who was killed in a June 7 airstrike northeast of Baghdad.
"Our Islamic nation was surprised to find its knight, the lion of jihad [holy war], the man of determination and will, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed in a shameful American raid," bin Laden said.
It was the fourth message put out this year by al-Qaida leader bin Laden. All have featured his voice in audiotapes. New video images of him have not appeared since October 2004.
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