Al Jazeera TV -- Press Release بيان صحفي
Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda
الأربعاء 11/12/1423هـ الموافق 12/2/2003م، (توقيت النشر) الساعة: 02:04(مكة المكرمة)،23:04(غرينيتش)
Al Jazeera Satellite Channel received Tuesday evening 11th of February 2003 an audio tape carrying a message from the leader of Al Qaeda Osama Bin Laden. The duration of the tape is 16 minutes. It is not known when the actual recording of the message took place. The way Al Jazeera received this latest audio recording was similar to the way the Arab language news channel received previous audio and visual recordings by Osama Bin Laden
In this latest audio recording, Bin Laden delivered a message to the people of Iraq encouraging them to stand fast in the face of the expected American military attack on their country. He pointed out that there is no harm in the current situation in the interest of Moslems coinciding with those of the socialists, while at the same time intimating that socialists and socialist regimes, whether in Baghdad or Aden are infidels. Bin Laden also stressed his view that all those who collaborate with the Americans against Iraq are breaking with Islam. He further pointed that the United States of America, through its occupation of Iraq, is endeavouring to realise the Zionist dream of Greater Israel in the area
Doha-Feb. 12, 2003
Bin Laden Tape Urges Iraqi Suicide Bombs
The tape was broadcast on the al-Jazeera Arab satellite station on Tuesday, the first day of the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha. The speaker also urged Iraqis to dig trenches and engage in urban warfare to fend off U.S. troops and called on Muslims to rise up against several U.S.-allied governments in the region.
"We stress the importance of martyrdom operations against the enemy, these attacks that have scared Americans and Israelis like never before," the speaker said, using a term often used by militants for suicide attacks.
U.S. counterterrorism officials in Washington said the audio message was probably a real recording of bin Laden, and that a technical analysis was planned to authenticate it. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear when the recording was made but said it was probably recent, given all the attention the speaker gave to Iraq.
In an interview with al-Jazeera aired after the tape, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the recording shows that Iraq and al-Qaida "are bound by a common hatred."
"He threatens everybody in the Arab world except Saddam Hussein," Boucher said. "We are saying Iraq is giving a haven to this group."
It was not clear if any Iraqis heard Tuesday's broadcast. Satellite dishes are banned in the country, limiting access to al-Jazeera, and it was not immediately known if Iraqi stations or international radio stations that can be heard in Iraq aired the statement.
Before the broadcast, Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate panel Tuesday that he had read a transcript of the statement and that it shows why the world needs to be concerned about Iraqi ties to terrorism.
Powell said that on the tape, "bin Laden - or who we believe to be bin Laden" ... "once again speaks to the people of Iraq and talks about their struggle and how he is in partnership with Iraq."
Washington insists that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is linked to bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network and cites that as one reason to launch military action against Iraq.
The speaker on the tape said nothing about direct ties between al-Qaida and the Iraqi government - saying his followers only share a common interest with Iraq, even though he denounced Saddam's secular, socialist al-Baath party as "infidels."
"It does not harm in these circumstances that the interests of Muslims and socialists crisscross in fighting against the Crusaders," he said. He urged Iraqis to fight the Americans whether or not Saddam remains in power.
Yasser Thabet, a broadcast editor at Al-Jazeera, said the 16-minute tape appears to be authentic because the television station got it through the same means as previous bin Laden statements. He did not elaborate.
"When you listen to the tape, you can tell it's Osama bin Laden's voice," Thabet said.
The last tape from bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, aired on Nov. 12 on al-Jazeera. Bin Laden, in the statement, promised new terrorist attacks.
In Tuesday's tape, the speaker urged the Iraqis to stay strong against a U.S. attack and blunt the force of a U.S. aerial assault by "digging large numbers of trenches and camouflaging them."
He described al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan withstanding heavy U.S. bombardment by hiding in trenches. "With all the might of the enemy, they were unable to defeat us and take over that position."
"We advise about the importance of drawing the enemy into long, close and tiring fighting, taking advantage of camouflaged positions in plains, farms, mountains and cities," he said. He said the enemy is terrified about urban warfare "because they will have big casualties."
He also called on true Muslims to rise up "incite and mobilize the Islamic nation ... to break free from the slavery of these regimes who are slaves of America." He singled out Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The speaker urged Muslims not to cooperate with the United States against Iraq, criticizing Arab governments who support Washington in its efforts to rid Iraq of its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
"Anyone who helps America - from the Iraqi hypocrites (opposition) or Arab rulers ... whoever fights with them or offers them bases or administrative assistance, or any kind of support or help, even if only with words, to kill Muslims in Iraq - should know that he is an apostate."
The Miami Herald, "Bin Laden Tape Urges Iraqi Suicide Bombs," NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press, Tue, Feb. 11, 2003
And see CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/02/11/powell.binladen/ of Feb 12 03
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