NEW BIN LADEN TAPE

Sky News ^ | 1/4/03

[areafiftyone]

Al-Jazeera television is broadcasting what is said to be a new audio tape of Osama bin Laden.

It is claimed he will refer to the capture of ex-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"The audiotape contains new things. It refers to the Geneva Initiative (an unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace plan unveiled in early December) and the capture of Saddam Hussein on December 13," al-Jazeera editor Ibrahim Hilal said.

Hilal said the voice purported to be that of bin Laden will also refer to the "(US) crusade against the Islamic world."

Early translations indicated that bin Laden called on Muslims to fight Western troops in Iraq with weapons rather than dialogue.

He also condemned Gulf states which supported the invasion of Iraq.

[Cap Huff]

The general content reported in your post seems to be a whole lot of griping against states that are cooperating with us, or beginning to cooperate. I don't see anything here that refers to Khadafy, so perhaps it is from before 19 December. Also I note the 14 November date for Saddam's capture. That must be an AJ mistake.

[Quix]

I don't believe they bluff or would bluff about nukes.

Just doesn't fit their mentality, IMHO.

They may speak in hyperbole.

But they love to act even more in hyperbole. And a nuke would be their paragon desired hyperbole. There's just too much evidence hinting at, pointing to their having some sort of nuke capability, IMHO.

[Yaelle]

This was intended as gloating to take place after an attack that we thwarted through all of these airline delays.

Wouldn't a gloat tape include words like "infidels brought down out of the sky" and stuff? Why would he only speak about Iraq? Maybe these tapes are hard to make so they work on them for a month -- this one was started right after they pulled Saddam out of his little nest.

[Dog]

What is the group thinking is this a GO Signal?

I have been at work all day and haven't had access to news.

[kayak]

Very interesting!

[Dog]

How long has it been since the capture of Saddam?

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

He blames the decline of Arabs and Muslims on their negligence of Islam as a system of government and state...

Whoever the author is, he couldn't be more wrong. If there is one constant among Muslim-dominated governments, it is stunning lack of achievement, resulting in rampant poverty, abysmal quality of live, and destructive internal/external conflicts.

[Dog]

Seamole....you might be onto something.

[Yaelle]

I have got to say that I could be standing next to that man in the city and I would never recognize him as Osama. Amazing. I never realized how much I tied his looks into his turban and beard.

[Victoria Delsoul]

It is claimed he will refer to the capture of ex-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

He is quite behind the news, isn't he?

[LayoutGuru2]

He's Dead Jim.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

The next Islamic Holy day is around Feb 1st-depends on the sighting of the new moon. Perhaps OBL was sending early holiday greetings.

[Yaelle]

Wasn't it early December? I remember thinking about it being a Christmas present for Bush's Dad.

[debg]

More info:

CAIRO, Egypt - In an audio tape aired Sunday on Al-Jazeera satellite channel, a voice purported to be al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to continue fighting a jihad, or holy war, rather than cooperating with Mideast peace efforts and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

The speaker, who referred to recent events, called on Muslims to "continue the jihad to check the conspiracies that are hatched against the Islamic nation."

Ibrahim Hilal, Al-Jazeera's editor-in-chief, told The Associated Press the network received the message Sunday. He declined to reveal how it was delivered.

"My message is to incite you against the conspiracies, especially those uncovered by the occupation of the crusaders in Baghdad under the pretext of weapons of mass destruction, and also the situation in (Jerusalem) under the deceptions of the road map and the Geneva initiative," the speaker said.

"We have to liberate the Islamic world from the military occupation of the Crusaders by raising up the banner of jihad for God's sake," the speaker said.

Bin Laden criticized the leaders of Muslim nations for refusing to stand against the United States for a fair settlement of the Palestinian issue and for not supporting the Palestinian resistance.

He also criticized Gulf countries for receiving members of the Iraqi Governing Council. "The deterioration of the situation of Arabs and Muslims is in ignoring Islam as a basic program for rule," the speaker said.

He called for establishing a council to replace the Arab rulers and take on the role of unifying Arab positions and raising the banner of jihad.

He called the Middle East issues part of a religious and economic war, saying the "big powers" were trying to control the region for its oil.

Hilal, Al-Jazeera's editor-in-chief, said the voice and language made him certain it was bin Laden. "It is bin Laden's superb and special Arabic language that is very hard to emulate," Hilal said. "It is undoubtedly his voice, his style, and the typical examples from history he uses."

The last audio tape purported to be bin Laden was broadcast by Al-Jazeera last October. CIA analysts who examined that tape concluded it was probably authentic.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/379343.html

[arasina]

Perhaps the same percentage of people as the Iraqis who responded "Crime" in the Iraqi poll regarding the capture of Saddam and related issues.

C)Attacking Israel in 1991:

Crime 18%
Justified action 82%

[Dog]

If he is in the area we think he is hiding in...it could have taken this long to get the tape to Al Jazerra.

He is using couriers.....so Saddam was captured Dec 13-14....it has been 3 weeks since then.....this tape fits the time frame of what it would take a courier to get it to Qatar.