Usama bin Laden is seen gloating over the financial and psychological damage the Sept. 11 attacks inflicted on the United States in a videotape released Wednesday by the Middle East Broadcasting Corp.
The broadcasters said, without explanation, that the video appeared to have been made in December. Pentagon officials said the video may have been a different section of a tape partially shown by the Al-Jazeera satellite TV station on Tuesday.
The Al-Jazeera tape will be broadcast in its entirety on Thursday. Following is a rough transcription of bin Laden's remarks from the video released Wednesday:
"By their own admittance, the percentage of loss at the Wall Street was 16 percent. That this is a record number . . . Unprecedented in the history of the stock market since it opened more than 30 years ago.
"The capital is $4 trillion. To learn the amount of their loss, we multiply this number by 16 percent. This should equal $640 billion.
"This number is equal to the Sudanese budget for 640 years. This is what they lost because of God's support and generosity. One blessed attack within one hour, and they lose all this.
"The daily national income equals $20 billion. In the first week after the attacks and after the psychological shock, they were shocked and people did not go to work. So if we multiply $20 billion by 7 days, that is $140 billion.
"Every day, that's because of God's generosity and help. If we add this to $640 billion, we reach almost $800 billion of losses every day.
"That's besides the loss of buildings . . . more than 30 till the past two days.
"The airline companies are getting rid of their employees . . . more than 170,000 are out of jobs.
"Seventy percent of the American people are suffering from depression and psychological problems, according to American studies. They got depressed after the towers incident and the attack on the Pentagon, and that's all because of God's generosity.
"One huge hotel company, the Intercontinental, is also getting rid of employees. More than 20,000 employees.
"Actually, no one can figure out the losses or the effects because the amount of loss could at least be . . . more than $1 trillion — all because of these blessed attacks.
"May God accept the martyrs' actions and offer them the highest level of paradise."
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