Bin Laden audio: Al Qaeda leader praises Arab spring

Al Qaeda released a posthumous audio recording of what sounds like leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed by a U.S. Navy SEALs raid on May 2 in Pakistan.

In the recording, which Al Qaeda says was recorded before the leader died, a voice that appears to be bin Laden praises the protests that have been sweeping through the Arab world and began in the Maghreb region of North Africa.

"The sun of the revolution has risen from the Maghreb. The light of the revolution came from Tunisia. It has given the nation tranquility and made the faces of the people happy," bin Laden says, as reported by Reuters.

The audio is part of a 12-minute internet video that Al Qaeda posted on various Islamist websites.

According to the message, bin Laden supported efforts to overthrow more leaders in the Arab world and called on Al Qaeda followers to "set up an operations room that follows up events and works in parallel … to save the people that are struggling to bring down their tyrants."

Bin Laden predicts in the message that the revolutions will spread to more countries.

"I think that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world, God willing," bin Laden said, as reported by the Guardian.

The recording, which was widely expected, was released to Islamist websites by Al Qaeda's media arm, al-Sahab, it states.

Read more from GlobalPost on the killing of bin Laden.