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Bin
Laden Hails Moscow-Hostage Taking, Bali Blast, Warns U.S. Allies
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"As
you assassinate, so will you be (assassinated), and as you bomb so
will you likewise be," Bin Laden threatened
U.S.
, allies
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DOHA,
November 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Osama Bin Laden hailed
in an audio recording broadcast by Al-Jazeera TV channel late Tuesday,
November 12, the hostage-taking operation in Moscow and the Bali
blasts in Indonesia, and warned U.S. allies.
"As
you assassinate, so will you be (assassinated), and as you bomb so
will you likewise be," he said in the broadcast, in reference to
the United States and its allies.
In
the audiotape addressed to "the peoples of countries allied to
the United States," Bin Laden warned them against the
"alliance between their governments and the United States."
"Do
not your governments know that the White House gang is the most
vicious butcher of the age?" Bin Laden wondered.
"Is
not what (U.S. President George) Bush, the Pharaoh of our age, is
doing in Iraq and Israel is Palestine of killing and shelling
enough," he asked.
He
cited by name "Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and
Australia."
Lauding
the attacks "on Germans in Tunis, on the French in Karachi, on
Australians and Britons in Bali, on the French tanker in Yemen and
U.S. Marines in Failaka (Kuwait), as well as the recent hostage-taking
in Moscow," Bin Laden said they were "the response of
Muslims eager to defend their religion."
The
Qatar-based satellite channel did provide any details on how it
obtained the tape.
Commenting
on the new tape, Hany el-Sebaei, a London-based Islamic scholar,
described the tape as the strongest evidence that Bin Laden is still
alive.
Bin
Laden wanted to encourage Arabs and Muslims, especially Iraqis to
resist and defy American arrogance.
Bin
Laden is sending a message to the Arab and Islamic nation, that if the
United States had failed to arrest him, then the nation can stand in
the face of mighty America, according to el-Sebaei.
Meanwhile,
the White House said Tuesday it had seen reports of a purported new
audiotape by Bin Laden but was "not making any judgments"
about its authenticity, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We've
seen the reports, we're looking into it, but at this point we're not
making any judgments as to whose voice is on the tape," said
White House national security spokesman Sean McCormack.
On
October 6, Al-Jazeera broadcast what it said was a recording of the
Al-Qaeda leader in which he issued a new threat to strike U.S.
economic interests until it renounced its "injustice and
hostility" toward Arabs and Muslims.
Last
month, Bin Laden praised in a similar tape heroic and jihad operations
targeting the French oil supertanker off Yemeni coast as well as
attacks on U.S. forces in Kuwait.
In
a statement signed by his name, of which Al-Jazeera obtained a copy,
Bin Laden exhorted the Islamic nation to close ranks and overcome
differences.
In
his statement, Bin Laden stressed that priority must be given to
fighting Americans and Jews.
He
underlined that the American troops in Afghanistan failed to
accomplish their mission, that is to arrest Taliban and Al-Qaeda,
realize security and stability in Afghanistan or unify the country
under a central government.
Ever
since the U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan late last year, there has
been debate on whether Bin Laden was still alive.
A
former Afghan commander said in Pakistan on Monday, November 11, that
Bin Laden was still alive and hiding in Afghanistan.
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