DOHA, 13 November 2002 — Osama Bin Laden hailed the spate of terror attacks in the Arab world and Asia as well as the Moscow hostage-taking, and threatened US allies, in an audio-tape purportedly recorded by him that Al-Jazeera TV broadcast last night.
“As you assassinate, so will you be (assassinated), and as you bomb so will you likewise be,” he said in the broadcast, against the background of a photograph of the Al-Qaeda terror network’s leader, in turban and khaki jacket, a rifle at his side.
In the message, addressed to “the peoples of countries allied to the United States,” he warned them against the “alliance between their governments and the United States to attack us in Afghanistan.” He cited by name “Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany and Australia.”
Bin Laden hailed the attacks “on Germans in Tunis, on the French in Karachi, on Australians and Britons in Bali, against the French tanker in Yemen and against the Marines in Failaka (Kuwait), as well as the recent hostage-taking in Moscow, all of which were the response of Muslims eager to defend their religion.”
The Qatar-based satellite channel did not provide any details on how it obtained the tape. On Oct. 6, Al-Jazeera broadcast what it said was a recording of the Al-Qaeda chief in which he issued a new threat to strike US economic interests until Washington renounced its “injustice and hostility” toward Arabs and Muslims.
Ever since the US-led attack on Afghanistan late last year, there has been debate on whether Bin Laden, who was in hiding there, had survived those attacks. A former Afghan commander said in Pakistan on Monday that Bin Laden was still alive and hiding in Afghanistan.
US forces have been hunting Bin Laden, identified by the US as the prime suspect in last year’s Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Jazeera has regularly broadcast video and audio statements, alleged to have been made by Bin Laden, in which he often railed against the United States.
A US official said the voice on the audio tape purported to be that of Bin Laden will be analyzed to determine if it is indeed that of the Al-Qaeda leader. “We’ve seen these reports, and we will analyze the recording. We don’t know if it’s him or not,” said Sean McCormack, spokesman for the White House National Security Council in Washington. (AFP/R)
