Bozo Erectus
Master Baker
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2003
- Messages
- 22,389
An Arab television network has aired an audiotape said to be from Osama Bin Laden in which he offers Europe a truce if it "stops attacking Muslims".
However in the tape, aired by the al-Arabiya satellite channel on Thursday, the voice said the truce would not be extended to the US, Reuters reported.
The person on the tape also vowed to avenge Israel's killing of Hamas' spiritual leader Ahmed Sheikh Yassin.
The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately verified.
The tape also refers to the 11 March bombings in Madrid, Spain and the events of 11 September 2001.
It said the attacks were payment for US and Spanish actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.
"What happened on September 11 and March 11 are your goods returned to you, so that you know security is a necessity for all," the voice said.
Earlier tapes
The tape also reportedly criticises US policy for ignoring the "real problem" which is "the occupation of all of Palestine", the Associated Press reported.
And it condemns the recent US-led conflict in Iraq as a money-making scheme for companies making weapons or aiding reconstruction efforts - specifically naming the American firm Halliburton, AP said.
Several tapes purporting to be by Osama Bin Laden have surfaced since the 11 September attacks - which the US has blamed on his al-Qaeda network.
The most recent, broadcast in January by the Arab satellite television channel al-Jazeera, condemned the occupation in Iraq and attacked Arab nations which supported the war.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) later said that analysis indicated the voice on the January tape was that of Osama Bin Laden.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3627775.stm
What a canny old emmereffer Bin Laden is. He's trying to further isolate the U.S. from its allies. The audacity of the guy is amazing! You think this strategy can succeed?