Posted on 01/05/2004 7:42:27 AM PST by areafiftyone
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- A speaker who was purportedly Osama bin Laden said on an audiotape that the U.S.-led war in Iraq was the beginning of the "occupation" of Gulf states for their oil and called on Muslims to keep fighting a holy war in the Middle East. The tape is likely authentic, U.S. officials said Monday.
The voice on the audiotape, which was broadcast Sunday on the Al-Jazeera satellite channel, referred to recent events - including the Dec. 13 capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and peace initiatives between Israel and the Palestinians.
The speaker urged Muslims to "continue the jihad to check the conspiracies that are hatched against the Islamic nation."
A CIA official speaking on condition of anonymity said that a technical analysis determined that the tape was likely an authentic audio message from bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaida terror network.
On CBS's "The Early Show," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge also said that "preliminary assessments says this is the voice of Osama bin Laden."
Al-Jazeera played the audiotape while showing a still photo of bin Laden against a dark blue background.
"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.
A Mideast peace plan dubbed the Geneva Accord was launched Dec. 1 by Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. The phrase "road map" refers to a U.S.-backed plan for a Palestinian state by 2005.
Ibrahim Hilal, Al-Jazeera's editor-in-chief, told The Associated Press the network received the message Sunday. However, he declined to reveal how it was delivered.
Hilal said he was certain the voice on the tape was bin Laden's.
"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 original message was 47 minutes long but the network aired only 14 minutes, Hilal said.
In those excerpts, the speaker urged Muslims to "liberate the Islamic world from the military occupation of the Crusaders."
He said Gulf countries have given in to U.S. pressures "thinking that would not open the door for toppling of the dictatorial regimes by military force from outside, especially after they saw the capture of their previous comrade in treachery, a hireling of America," referring to Saddam.
The speaker criticized leaders of Muslim nations for refusing to pressure the United States on the Palestinian issue and for not supporting the Palestinian resistance.
He also criticized Gulf countries for receiving members of the U.S.-appointed interim Iraqi Governing Council.
He said the "big powers" were trying to control the region for its oil.
"The occupation of Iraq is the beginning of the full occupation of the other Gulf states. ... The Gulf is the key for control of the world in the point of view of the big powers because of the presence of the biggest deposits of oil."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Monday in London that he had no confirmation that the voice on the tape was bin Laden's but that it was a safe assumption.
"There is no question that the al-Qaida organization and its networks are still around. And so far as we know, Osama bin Laden is still alive," Straw told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Al-Jazeera last broadcast an audiotape purportedly from bin Laden in October. CIA analysts examining that tape concluded it probably was authentic.
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The Dems had over 100% turnout in some urban areas. Can you say "fraud"?
Yes, but still it's not many considering how many are here.
I didn't say he would've won in a landslide in Florida. But I think there was about 5 million votes nationwide that were fraudulant that did turn a few states to Gore.
Sorry, more wishful thinking on your part.
No it's 40+ years worth of evidence. You are naive if you think that Democratic voter fraud isn't significant. They wouldn't do it unless they could turn elections with it and they can turn elections with it so they do it.
LOTS more people voted against Bush than we thought would in that election.
Nah, we know who votes against us, they do every election and it's a lot of people. If voter fraud isn't significant, then why do the Democrats scream so much about poll watchers? It's because it works for them. If it works for them, it's significant, significant enough to add 5 million nationwide in 2000. Just think of all the precincts across the country in urban areas that don't have significant Republican representation. It's easy for them to commit fraud. There are hardly any precincts nationwide that are void of significant Democratic representation. This added 5 percentage points to Gore's total popular vote. I think it woke up a lot of Republicans across the nation and it helped us in 2002, I think some Democratic fraud was eliminated. Hopefully that will continue this year.
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