In the statement posted Friday on the on the Internet, a voice identified as bin Laden's said the "main root of conflict" is the Palestinian issue and the West's policies, the BBC reported Wednesday. Two days later he said Arab leaders "sacrifice Palestine ... to keep their crowns."

One analyst says the shift in rhetoric could indicate bin Laden is downplaying Iraq's importance because it is difficult to rally support there, the British broadcaster said.

"Al-Qaida could now be preparing its followers for a strategic failure in Iraq. It therefore needs a rallying cry and Palestine is a no-brainer," Nigel Inkster, director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, told the BBC.

"There is some evidence that support for Osama bin Laden has been dropping in the Arab world because of revulsion about al-Qaida behavior and especially the killing of Muslims," said Inkster, a former British intelligence deputy chief. "On the other hand, there is still an appetite and ambition to engage in terrorism spectaculars in western Europe and U.S."