Al-Jazeera airs purported bin Laden tape

[nifer]

WASHINGTON (CNN) --After initially denying the existence of such a message, the Arab network Al-Jazeera broadcast an audio message Tuesday purportedly from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, calling on Muslims to "unite in defending the Iraqi people."

Word of the tape first emerged earlier Tuesday when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate panel a new message had surfaced believed to be bin Laden claiming he is "in partnership with Iraq."

"[bin Laden] speaks to the people of Iraq and talks about their struggle and how he is in partnership with Iraq," Powell said during the hearing.

Al Qaeda initially dismissed Powell's claim as a rumor, but the secretary of state assured senators they would be hearing bin Laden's message "during the course of the day" on Al-Jazeera.

Other developments

• An emergency session of NATO abruptly ended Tuesday after 30 minutes without resolution on whether to defend Turkey in the event of war with Iraq. NATO spokesman Eyves Brodeur said member states would continue to meet informally "through the night to try and find common ground." NATO was plunged into the crisis Monday after France, Germany and Belgium blocked U.S.-led efforts to send defensive military hardware to Turkey, NATO's only Muslim nation and the only NATO member that borders Iraq. (Full story)

• The United States and France are drafting competing documents for the U.N. Security Council about the next step in the Iraqi crisis, diplomats said Tuesday. The U.S. document could call Iraq in "material breach" of Resolution 1441 and authorize military action, a U.S. official said. The French document reportedly would authorize more aggressive inspections enforced by many more inspectors.

• U.S. intelligence has noticed that Iraq has moved Scud missile launching equipment next to mosques and historic sites in an effort to preserve launchers from a possible U.S. attack. It also has detected shipments of explosives into southern Iraq that may be intended for oil fields. (Full story)

• At a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, CIA Director George Tenet said two dozen members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which he called "indistinguishable" from al Qaeda, and two senior planners have been "operating freely" in Baghdad. (Full story)

• A Vatican envoy arrived Tuesday in Baghdad on a mission for peace and said he would deliver a "personal message" from Pope John Paul II to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "I have come to encourage all efforts for peace," Cardinal Roger Etchegaray said. "War cannot be the last solution. It would be the worse solution, and no one must be resigned to it."