'We repeat the same message to you,' said the speaker in an audiotape played on the Al-Jazeera satellite news network. 'The release of your prisoners from the hands of our brethren depends on the withdrawal of your soldiers from our countries.'
One U.S. counterterrorism official told CNN that the tape 'sends a chill up your spine,' as it refers to 'a couple of human beings whose lives are at stake.'"
