COMPLETE COVERAGE | FRONT LINES | AMERICA AT HOME | INTERACTIVES »

E-mail from bin Laden, says editor

Atwan has met and interviewed Osama bin Laden

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The editor of a London-based Arabic newspaper says he believes an e-mail purporting to be from Osama bin Laden is genuine.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper said the message it received on Thursday morning denounces the Saudi peace plan that was adopted at the Arab summit on Thursday morning.

"In light of the bloody events that our nation is going through, everybody is required (to take up) Jihad," the e-mail said, " ... and grassroots leaderships have to move to end this roaring bloodshed and to expose the treacheries."

MORE STORIES Summit approves Saudi peace plan     CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

Abdul Bari Atwan, editor of Al-Quds newspaper, told CNN that although he cannot verify it, he is certain the e-mail came from the suspected September 11 terrorist mastermind.

"It carries the same language and the same terminology which Osama bin Laden used in his previous communiqué and previous tapes," Atwan said.

He noted that the communication coincides with discussion of the Saudi peace proposal at the Arab Summit.

"I think this is the same language he used," said Atwan, who interviewed bin Laden in 1996.

"He supported suicidal attacks against the Israelis.

"He wanted to distance himself from the Arab leaders, from the Saudi peace initiative.

"He considered Prince Abdullah, who presented it to the summit, as a traitor. So the man is really consistent in his approach and his ideology."

The Saudi peace plan, in its broadest terms, offers Israel security and normal relations in exchange for a withdrawal by Israel from all occupied Arab territories, creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of refugees.

The United States has said it is unsure whether bin Laden is alive or dead following heavy bomb attacks against suspected al Qaeda hideouts in Afghanistan.

Media reports have quoted Afghans as saying there have been recent sightings of bin Laden.