The announcement by the Islamist militant organization, which promised to publish a taped message from Bin Laden soon, appeared intended to show its adherents around the globe the group had survived as a functioning network.

In a statement online, it said the blood of Bin Laden, shot to death by a US commando team in a raid on Monday on his hide-out in a Pakistani town, "is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain.

"It will remain, with permission from Allah the Almighty, a curse that hunts the Americans and their collaborators and chases them inside and outside their country."

Al Qaeda urged Pakistanis to rise up against their government to "cleanse" the country of what it called the shame brought on it by Bin Laden's shooting and of the "filth of the Americans who spread corruption in it."

The statement also warned Americans not to harm Bin Laden's corpse and to hand it and those of others killed to their families, although US officials say Bin Laden's body has been buried at sea and no others were taken from the compound.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama continued to bask in public approval for the killing of Bin Laden. He flew to a military base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on Friday to thank special forces involved in the raid.