Osama bin Laden praised the slain leader of Iraq's al Qaida wing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as "the lion of holy war," according to a Website audiotape released on Friday.

The 19-minute, 32-second tape shows a split-screen image with a still picture of bin Laden on one side and footage showing al-Zarqawi meeting with his subordinates on the other.

"Our Islamic nation was surprised to find its knight, the lion of jihad, the man of determination and will, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed in a shameful American raid," said the voice purportedly from bin Laden.

"We hope to God he accepts him as a martyr," he said.

The Jordanian-born militant was killed on June 7 in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

In the message, bin Laden demanded U.S. President George W. Bush hand over the body of al-Zarqawi to his family.

It was the fourth message put out this year by bin Laden. New video images of him have not appeared since October 2004.

The authenticity of the videotape could not be immediately confirmed. U.S. intelligence officials said tests were being conducted.

Earlier this month, al Qaida's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri vowed vengeance against the United States for the death of Zarqawi.

Source: Xinhua