DUBAI, (AFP) - Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the botched Christmas Day bombing of a US airliner and vowed further strikes on US targets, in an audio message broadcast Sunday.

The brief statement carried by Al-Jazeera satellite television warned Washington that the attack was meant as a similar message to that of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US carried out by 19 Al-Qaeda militants who hijacked airliners and crashed them into buildings.

Bin Laden in the statement praised as a ''hero'' Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who allegedly tried to detonate explosives on a Northwest Airline over Detroit on December 25 but who was foiled when passengers pounced on him.

''The message that was conveyed through the (attacked) plane of the hero Umar Farouk is to stress earlier messages delivered to you by the heroes of the 11'' September attack, he said.

''That (message) is, that America should not dream of security until we enjoy it as a reality in Palestine,'' he added.

The authenticity of the brief audio statement could not immediately be verified but Al-Jazeera said the voice was that of bin Laden.

''Had we been able to deliver our messages to you in words, we would not have sent them by planes,'' the audio statement said.

''It is not fair that you (America) enjoy a good life while our brothers in Gaza endure the worst standard of living. Therefore, God willing, our attacks against you will continue as long as you maintain your support to Israel.''

Al-Qaeda's franchise in Yemen, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), had claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day plane attack and analysts said bin Laden through his latest statement is stressing that he is still in overall control of the network.

Intelligence officials, military analysts and other experts have long believed he is holed up along the remote mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and have hinted that groups such as AQAP could be operating autonomously.

Washington has accused AQAP of training Abdulmutallab, who had spent some time in Yemen.

The US administration is putting pressure on Yemen to clamp down on Al-Qaeda militants in the impoverished country, and an international meeting to discuss combating militancy in Yemen will be held on January 27 in London.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in London Sunday that the Christmas Day foiled attack marks a ''new phase'' in Al-Qaeda's campaign against the West.