Posted on 11/10/2001 3:45:50 AM PST by kattracks
Osama Bin Laden says he has nuclear weapons and is ready to use them against the U.S., it was reported yesterday.
"I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may reply with chemical and nuclear weapons," the elusive terrorist leader was quoted as saying by a leading Pakistani journalist who interviewed him somewhere near Kabul, Afghanistan.
"We have the weapons as deterrent," he added.
The interview appeared in Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.
The paper said that when asked where he got the weapons, Bin Laden replied, "Go to the next question."
It said its editor, Hamid Mir, spoke with Bin Laden, reputed architect of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, after being blindfolded and taken by jeep from Kabul on Nov. 7.
The paper printed a photo of the two sitting together.
The U.S. has long known Bin Laden has been trying to get nuclear weapons. President Bush warned this week that Bin Laden's shadowy Al Qaeda terror network might already have them.
Justifies Killing Innocents
During the interview, Bin Laden claimed he learned the World Trade Center attackers were Muslim only from the list of suspects U.S. government officials released.
But he then revealed apparent first-hand knowledge of the operation, saying, "The attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were American icons of military and economic power."
Asked how he could justify the killing of innocent people in the light of Islamic teachings, he replied, "If a child is above 13 and wields a weapon against Muslims, then it is permitted to kill him."
Bin Laden later claimed that the U.S. was massacring Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and elsewhere, and that all of America was "responsible because they elect the Congress."
He urged Americans to revolt.
"The American people rose against their government in the war in Vietnam," Bin Laden said. "They must do the same today."
Asked if he would turn himself in for trial in a Muslim country if some of his key demands, such as the removal of the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia, were met, Bin Laden obliquely said no.
"Only Afghanistan is an Islamic country," he said. "Pakistan follows the English law, and I don't consider Saudi Arabia an Islamic country."
Bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia.
"If the Americans have charges against me, we, too, have a charge sheet against them," he added.
'Dirty Bomb' Feared
Last week, Pakistani police detained two of their nuclear scientists who have been sympathetic to Afghanistan's Taliban and to Bin Laden. The two men have spent the last few years running a charity in Afghanistan. They were released after being grilled for several days.
And a former Al Qaeda member who defected from Bin Laden described a 1993 attempt by the millionaire to obtain a nuclear weapon by offering $1.5 million for a cylinder of South African uranium.
The defector, Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl, testified during the trial of four Bin Laden followers accused of bombing U.S. embassies in Africa that he saw the cylinder but did not know whether the deal was completed.
Some experts fear that Bin Laden could assemble a so-called dirty bomb, a conventional explosive packed with radioactive waste that would spread radiation rather than create a large explosion.
"You really should be more precise when you make posts with a threatening tone".
Where in my post( #3 )....... did I say "I wanted" to see anyone killed.
Before you rant and rave, read and understand what you read.
"Threatening tone"? Shirley.....you jest!
Whoops! Too late.
Nothing to do but obliterate him and his followers.
Period.
I'm with you on this. If he had nukes, he be sending them over here. He wouldn't be saving them as a "deterrent".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.