In a five-minute audio message released Wednesday, Osama bin Laden condemns Europeans for allying with the United States in Afghanistan and for repeatedly publishing satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in newspapers and magazines.

The message comes as the Muslim world celebrated the holiday that marks the birthday of the Prophet.

“You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings. This is the greater and more serious tragedy, and the reckoning for it will be more severe,” the voice attributed to bin Laden says in the recorded message.

The message released by As-Sahab, the media arm of al-Qaeda, was posted after Danish newspapers on Feb. 13 republished a cartoon showing Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban to show their commitment to freedom of speech after the police said they had uncovered a plot to kill the artist behind them. The drawing was one of the 12 satirical cartoons first published in a Danish newspaper that set off major protests in Muslim countries in 2006. “Publishing these insulting drawings is the greatest misfortune and the most dangerous,” the voice accompanying a still picture of bin Laden holding an automatic rifle, said. In fact, the message was named: “The response will be what you see, not what you hear,” without naming what action would be taken. Followers of the faith generally consider depictions of the Prophet blasphemous.

The bin Laden statement says the cartoons are part of a new crusade against Islam in which the Vatican has played a large and lengthy role. Pope Benedict is scheduled to visit the U.S. next month, with scheduled stops at the White House, the United Nations and Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers stood until al-Qaeda’s attack.

The message is bin Laden’s first public statement since December last year, when he urged his followers in Iraq to continue battling U.S. troops there. Analysts at the SITE Institute, a U.S. group that monitors terror messages, found bin Laden’s silence on Wednesday fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion on Iraq suspect.

“The tape doesn’t give any specific evidence that would allow us to determine when it was recorded,” Adam Raisman, senior analyst at the SITE Institute, said according to the Associated Press.

According to Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, another U.S. group that monitors militant messages, bin Laden's appearance is a “clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack.”

Photo Credit: AP