Cairo: Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden will release a new video in the coming days ahead of the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in what would be the first new images of the al-Qaida leader in nearly three years, al-Qaida's media arm announced. Analysts noted that al-Qaida tends to mark the September 11 anniversary with a slew of messages, and the Department of Homeland Security said it had no credible information warning of an imminent threat to the US.

Still, bin Laden's appearance would be significant. He has not appeared in new video footage since October 2004 and he has not put out a new audiotape in more than a year, his longest period without a message. One difference in his appearance was immediately obvious. The announcement had a still photo from the upcoming video, showing bin Laden addressing the camera, his beard fully black. In his past videos, bin Laden's beard was almost entirely gray with dark streaks.

Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, a US-based group that monitors terror messages, said bin Laden's beard appeared to have been dyed, a popular practice among Arab leaders. "I think it works for their benefit that he looks young, he looks healthy," Katz said. The announcement and photo appeared in a banner advertisement posted on an Islamic militant Web site where al-Qaida s media arm, Al-Sahab, frequently posts messages.

"Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the banner advertisement read, signed by Al-Sahab. Such announcements are usually put out one to three days before the video is posted on the Web.

IntelCenter, another US group that monitors Islamic websites and analyses terror threats, said the video is expected within the next 72 hours, before the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 suicide hijacker attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The anniversary has always been a major media event for al-Qaida, a chance for it to drum up support among extremists, tout itself as the leading militant group and show off its continued survival. "They have always gone out of their way to commemorate it," said Ben Venzke, chief executive officer of IntelCenter. "Historically the anniversary of 9-11 has never been drawn to attacks. It's drawn to video releases." But the fact that bin Laden is delivering the message is significant, he said. Whether the message will indicate a potential attack will depend on what bin Laden says.

If bin Laden does appear in new footage, it would be the first images of him since an October 29, 2004 videotape, just before the US presidential elections, in which he said America could avoid another 9-11 style attack if it stopped threatening Muslims. The new video would also end the longest period bin Laden has gone without releasing a message. His last audiotape was on July 1, 2006,in which he welcomed new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq succeeding the slain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Bin Laden went silent for a similar long stretch before, from December 28, 2004 to January 19,2006. That absence sparked widespread speculation that he was ill, wounded or possibly dead.

During bin Laden's silence, his deputy Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri has been frequently issuing videos and audiotapes. Al-Zawahri appeared in a 2006 video marking the 9-11 anniversary.