CAIRO, Egypt - A man identifying himself as Osama bin Laden offered a "truce" to European countries that do not attack Muslims, saying it would begin when their soldiers leave Islamic nations, in a recording broadcast today on Arab satellite networks.

The tape, which ran in full at more than seven minutes, also vowed revenge against America for the Israeli assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin and denounced the United States as using the Iraq war for corporate profiteering.

"I announce a truce with the European countries that do not attack Muslim countries," the taped message said as the stations showed an old, still picture of al-Qaida leader.

The speaker's identity could not be immediately verified.

Dia'a Rashwan, a Cairo expert on Islamic militants, said the voice sounded like bin Laden, though it deviated from his old pattern of labeling Europeans as "the Crusader-Jewish alliance."

The tape made clear overtures to Europeans, calling them "our neighbors north of the Mediterranean," and tried to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States.

Several audio and videotapes of al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, have been released in recent months, but Thursday's tape was the first purportedly from bin Laden since September. Then, a videotape showed bin Laden climbing down a craggy mountainside with al-Zawahri.

Ayman Gaballah, editor of Al-Arabiya, said only that the pan-Arab television network received the tape from "our sources." He would not say if the tape was received at its headquarters in the United Arab Emirates or in a bureau elsewhere, such as Pakistan or Afghanistan.

"From the voice, it seems it is bin Laden, but we are not experts to confirm it," Gaballah said.

In London, a British opposition spokesman said the purported truce offered was a sign that the al-Qaida network is rattled.

"It is obviously an attempt by al-Qaida or the associates of al-Qaida, to try and drive a wedge between the coalition," said Michael Ancram, foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition Conservative Party.