Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden talks at a news conference in Afghanistan in this May 26, 1998 file photo.(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    CAIRO, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden accused the United States in a statement posted on the Internet on Saturday of having a plot to take control of Iraq's oil.

    In the statement, bin Laden also accused Washington of seeking to build military bases in Iraq and dominate the region.

    The United States is making efforts to rebuild a pro-Washington national unity government in Iraq, which is meant "to give the Americans all they wish of Iraq's oil", said the statement, urging Iraqis to reject it.

    Iraqis must reject the envisaged plan and those who join tribal councils fighting al-Qaida or take part in any unity government would be turning their backs on Islam, bin Laden warned in the statement.

    He, meanwhile, made a sharp threat of attacks against Israel by saying that "I would like to assure our people in Palestine that we will expand our jihad (holy war) there."

    "We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the (Jordan) river to the sea" with "blood for blood, destruction for destruction", he vowed.

U.S. military personnel sit aboard a boat as they patrol areas near Iraq's Khol al-Amaya oil terminal as seen in the background in this undated U.S. Navy handout picture. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)