M A I N   N E W S

Laden stakes claim to Pak N-bombs

London, September 25
Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, hunted by the USA for the Black Tuesday terror attacks, has claimed Islamic rights over Pakistan’s nuclear bombs.

“We supported the Pakistani people and congratulated them when god was gracious enough to enable them to acquire the nuclear weapon. We regard this as one of our rights, our Muslim rights,” he said in an interview to the Qatar-based Arabic channel Al-Jazira.

In the interview, bin Laden also said he was actively looking to pile more nuclear weapons as well as chemical and biological weapons. “It is the duty of the Muslims to possess them.”

His intended targets reportedly are the USA, the UK and Israel.

In the interview reported in London’s Daily Express, Bin Laden says: “We are demanding our right to have the Americans evicted from the Islamic world and to prevent them from dominating us.” Though the interview was recorded two years ago, its full contents were released only on Monday, the newspaper said.

“We believe that the right to self-defence is to be enjoyed by all people. Israel is stockpiling hundreds of nuclear warheads and bombs and the Christian West is largely in possession of such weapons. Hence we regard this as a right,” Bin Laden reportedly said.

It became clear from the interview that the use of the word “crusade” by US President George W. Bush has given Bin Laden the means to push beliefs he held earlier.

“There are two parties to the conflict. The world Christianity, which is allied with Jews and Zionism, led by the USA, the UK and Israel,” he said. The other “is the Islamic world.”

“In such a conflict, it is unacceptable to see the first party mount attacks, desecrate my land and holy shrines and plunder Muslims’ oil. When Muslims put up resistance against this party, they are branded as terrorists. This is stupidity. It’s an insult to people’s intelligence.”

“We believe it is our religious duty to resist this occupation with all the power we have and to punish it using the same means it is pursuing against us.” IANS