Osama bin Laden has admitted for the first time that he ordered the September 11th attacks in the United States.

Addressing the American public ahead of presidential elections, Bin Laden said in a video aired Friday that the United States can avoid another September 11th attack if it stops threatening the security of Muslims.

Reading a statement, the al-Qaida leader refrained from threats of new attacks and instead appealed to Americans. He said “Your security is not in the hands of Kerry, Bush or al-Qaida. Your security is in your own hands. Each state that does not mess with our security has naturally guaranteed its own security.”

It was the first footage in more than a year of the fugitive al-Qaida leader, thought to be hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The video, broadcast on Al-Jazeera television, showed bin Laden with a long gray beard, wearing traditional white robes, a turban and a golden cloak.

The FBI and the U.S. Justice Department had no immediate assessment of the tape. Officials said a part of their analysis will be to discern whether there may be hidden messages or clues about a possible future attack against the United States. They said, however, that it was too early to know.