Bin Laden delivers new message
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - March 20, 2008 Bin Laden's audiotape message Wednesday raised concerns al-Qaida
was plotting new attacks in Europe. Some experts said bin Laden,
believed to be in hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border area, may be
unable to organize an attack himself and instead is trying to fan
anger and inspire his supporters to violence.
On Thursday, Al-Jazeera television aired an audiotape it
attributed to bin Laden criticizing Palestinian negotiations with
Israel and urging holy war on behalf of the Palestinians. On the
recording, the man identified as bin Laden says "Palestine cannot
be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but with fire and iron."
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said bin
Laden's accusation that the pope has played a role in a worldwide
campaign against Islam is "baseless." Lombardi said the pope has
repeatedly criticized the cartoons, first published in some
European newspapers in 2006 and republished by Danish papers in
February.
Benedict angered many in the Muslim world in 2006, when he cited
a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the
Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his
command to spread by the sword the faith."
The pope later said he was "deeply sorry" and stressed the
remarks did not reflect his own opinions. He has since led a public
campaign for dialogue with Muslims.
Wednesday's audiotape from bin Laden was posted on a militant
Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore
the logo of the extremist group's media wing Al-Sahab.
"The response will be what you see and not what you hear and
let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our
messenger of God," said a voice believed to be bin Laden's,
without specifying what action would be taken.
He said the cartoons "came in the framework of a new Crusade in
which the Pope of the Vatican has played a large, lengthy role,"
according to a transcript released by the SITE Institute, a U.S.
group that monitors terror messages.
"You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of
the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of
publishing these insulting drawings," he said. "This is the
greater and more serious tragedy, and reckoning for it will be more
severe."
The five-minute message, bin Laden's first this year, came as
the Muslim world marks the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. It made no
mention of the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.
A U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington said "CIA
analysis assesses with a high degree of confidence it is Osama bin
Laden's voice on the tape" and that there was "no reason to doubt
bin Laden is alive." The official spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the intelligence matters involved.
On Feb. 13, Danish newspapers republished one of the cartoons,
which shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, to illustrate
their commitment to freedom of speech after police said they had
uncovered the beginnings of a plot to kill the artist.
Muslims widely saw the cartoons as an insult, depicting the
prophet as violent. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of
the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.
The original 12 cartoons triggered major protests in Muslim
countries in 2006.
There have been protests in the last month, though not as large
or widespread. A few dozen university students waved banners and
chanted slogans against Denmark on Thursday in Islamabad. The
students said they had not seen the bin Laden message.
Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors
militant messages, called Wednesday's message a "clear threat
against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming
significant attack."
Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general and security analyst,
said bin Laden was likely too isolated to organize an attack. But
the al-Qaida leader may be hoping to use anger over the cartoons to
inspire violence, he said.
"Even if he has not got the capacity (to launch an attack), he
will try to infuse hatred," Masood said.
Denmark's intelligence agency said bin Laden's warnings "don't
immediately give reason to change" its assessment of the threat
level against the country.
Last week, the intelligence agency had warned that reprinting
the cartoon had brought "negative attention" to Denmark and may
have increased the risk to Danes at home and abroad.
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Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Egypt and
Lily Hindy in New York contributed to this report.
