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Osama warns of repeat of terror In a videotaped message addressed directly to the American people Osama bin Laden said their security depended not on whom they elected President but on USA’s policy. “Your security is not in the hands of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry or President George W. Bush or Al Qaida. Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked,” said the Al Qaida leader. Osama appeared thinner but relatively healthy. The message, broadcast on Al Jazeera on Friday, was the first from the Al Qaida leader since December 2001. Osama accused Mr Bush of “exercising confusion” and “misleading” Americans and not telling them the true reason for the September 11, 2001, attacks on USA. “Therefore, the motivations are still there for what happened to be repeated,” he warned. Campaigning in Ohio, Mr Bush said: “Let me make this very clear: Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I’m sure Senator Kerry agrees with this. I also want to say to the American people that we’re at war with these terrorists and I am confident that we will prevail.” US Government officials said the tape appeared to be authentic and recently made. In West Palm Beach, Florida, Mr Kerry said: “As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. They are barbarians. And I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes.” Osama’s message is being seen as a political grenade lobbed just four days before the US presidential election. Democrats and Republicans had sharply contrasting opinions on the effect this would have on the election. Osama’s appearance on the tape may mean that Mr Bush’s “war on terror,” now in its fourth year, has failed, and this could spur calls for a change and bolster Mr Kerry. On the other hand, US voters may see it as an affirmation of Mr Bush’s rigid stance that the threat of terrorism is real, and they may decide to throw their support behind the President. Osama said: “Contrary to what Bush says and claims - that we hate freedom - let him tell us then, ‘Why did we not attack Sweden?’ It is known that those who hate freedom don’t have souls with integrity, like the souls of those 19.” Osama was referring to the 19 hijackers who turned four commercial airliners into deadly weapons on September 11, 2001. “We fought with you because we are free, and we don’t put up with transgressions. We want to reclaim our nation. As you spoil our security, we will do so to you," said Osama. The video tape was aired just one day after ABC News broadcast a video of a man claiming to be a US operative of Al Qaida who said the USA should brace for a large-scale attack that "will make you forget all about September 11." The White House said there would be no change in the present heightened state of alert in the U.S. "But it is something that we analyse all the time," spokesman Scott McClellan said. The Al Qaida leader said he was inspired to plot the September 11 attacks after Israel’s military strikes against Lebanon in 1982, an attack in which US carriers had played a key role. "But after the injustice was so much and we saw transgressions and coalition between Americans and the Israelis against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, that it occurred to my mind that we deal with the towers," he said. "And as I was looking at those towers that were destroyed in Lebanon, it occurred to me that we have to punish the transgressor with the same and that we had to destroy the towers in the USA, so that they get a taste of what we tasted and they stopped killing our women and children." Osama owned responsibility for the September 11 attacks saying his organisation "agreed with the leader of the group (of hijackers), Mohammed Atta, to perform all attacks within 20 minutes before Bush and his administration became aware of what was going on." He criticised Mr Bush for his behavior on the morning of September 11, 2001, when the President was reading "My Pet Goat" to a group of schoolchildren in Florida at the time he was informed of the attacks. "It never occurred that the highest leader of the military armed forces would leave 50,000 persons to face the horror that they faced all by themselves when they needed him the most," said Osama. "He was more interested in listening to the child’s story about the goat rather than worry about what was happening to the towers. So, that gave us double the time to execute our attacks." The impact of the tape on the closing
moments of the presidential campaign will become evident within the
next day or two. |
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