The videotape released by the Pentagon on Thursday reveals Osama Bin Laden's apparent coordination of the attacks on New York and Washington with members of the Saudi clergy.

The tape showed Bin Laden discussing the success of plans to destroy the World Trade Center and a wing of the Pentagon.

During a meeting with his supporters in November, Bin Laden is shown discussing the support of a Saudi cleric who gave a sermon in a Saudi mosque on the need to support Bin Laden. The sermon was videotaped, Middle East Newsline reported.

"What is the stand of the mosques there [in Saudi Arabia]?" Bin Laden asks an unidentified Saudi cleric.

"Honestly, they are very positive," the unidentified cleric replied.

"Sheik Al Bahrani gave a good sermon in his class after the sunset prayers. It was videotaped and I was supposed to carry it with me, but unfortunately, I had to leave immediately."

The videotape also raises the prospect that Bin Laden ordered Saudi clerics and other followers to issue an immediate justification of the Islamic suicide strikes. The unidentified sheik is seen telling Bin Laden that Bahrani issued his sermon "at the exact time of the attack on America, precisely at the time."

"He gave a very impressive sermon," the cleric told Bin Laden. "He told the youth: 'You are asking for martyrdom and wonder where you should go [for martyrdom]?"

The cleric also told Bin Laden of what apparently was a second Saudi clergyman who expressed support for the Islamic suicide attacks. The second cleric was identified as Sheik Suleiman Ulwan, who was described as one who had lost his official position because of his support for Bin Laden.

"He [Suleiman] gave a beautiful [religious ruling] fatwa, may Allah bless him," the cleric told Bin Laden. "Miraculously, I heard it on the Koran radio station. He said this was holy war and those people were not innocent people [World Trade Center and Pentagon victims]."

The exchange appears to cast doubts on claims by Saudi officials that Bin Laden had no links with the kingdom. In 1994, Riyad declared that Bin Laden was no longer a Saudi citizen.

The Pentagon released what officials described as an independent translation of the videotape.

In a briefing on Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he did not have any details on the unidentified Saudi cleric. Rumsfeld said the tape discloses that Bin Laden has a large and well-financed network that "covers many, many countries across the globe."

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