I'm not into believing that Bin Laden is alive and well. Reason? He's a prima donna. He wants to be on TV.
He's not on TV.
That should tell us something.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Posted on 06/22/2002 8:03:41 PM PDT by aculeus
Beirut, Lebanon — Osama bin Laden and his No. 2 man are both alive and well and their al-Qaida network is ready to attack new U.S. targets, Mr. bin Laden's spokesman said in audiotaped remarks aired Sunday.
The message also claimed responsibility for a deadly April fire at a Jewish synagogue in Tunisia.
The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television network, which has in the past aired videotaped messages of Mr. bin Laden and his top lieutenants, said that it received a recorded audiotaped message from Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the Kuwaiti-born spokesman for al-Qaida's leader and the man the U.S goverment is holding responsible for the World Trade Center attacks last September.
There was no way to independently confirm the authenticity of the remarks. The Bush administration has said that it does not know whether Mr. bin Laden is alive or dead. There was no immediate reaction Saturday from the White House.
It was not immediately clear when the tape was made or how Al-Jazeera obtained it. No comment from the station was available.
Similar remarks, purportedly made by Mr. Abu Ghaith, appeared days earlier on an Arabic-language Web site that issues daily updates on the war in Afghanistan. The tape and the Web site had some of the same quotes and statements, including that Mr. bin Laden would soon make a televised address to the Muslim world.
"I want to assure Muslims that Sheik Osama bin Laden ... is in good and prosperous health and all what is being rumored about his illness and injury in Tora Bora has no truth," according to excerpts aired Sunday.
The tape, which was monitored in Beirut, Lebanon, appeared recent. Referring to recent U.S. warnings about imminent al-Qaida threats, Mr. Abu Ghaith said the group will choose the right time, place and method.
The warnings were "a cover-up for the ugly face of the onslaught by the Democratic Party against the Republican Party after the American president announced he was aware of the Sept. 11 operations and because of the economic problems the American government was suffering from," Mr. Abu Ghaith said.
"I say 'Yes' to what American officials are saying ... that we are going to carry out attacks on America," he said.
Mr. Abu Ghaith said al-Qaida still has "the capability to threaten America and execute such threats. The few coming days and months will prove to the whole world, Allah willing, the truth of what we are saying."
He called the Sept. 11 attacks a "great historic victory that broke the backs of the Americans, the strongest power in this world," and referred to previous successes against the Americans: The 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 strike against the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen.
Mr. Abu Ghaith also claimed al-Qaida was behind the fuel tanker explosion on the Tunisian island of Jerba, in which 15 people died, 10 of them Germans.
"This is an operation that was carried out by the al-Qaida organization (by a man) ... who could not see his brothers in Palestine being killed, slaughtered, their blood spilled and honor violated and he looks around him and sees Jews in the city of Jerba wandering and enjoying and practicing their rituals at will," he said.
The audiotape included Mr. Abu Ghaith denying reports that Ayman Al-Zawahri, bin Laden's No. 2 man in al-Qaida, was hurt in Tora Bora, an eastern Afghanistan mountain region where U.S. and allied forces pursued remnants of al-Qaida and former rulers of Afghanistan, the Taliban.
"I can say that 98 percent of the leadership of al-Qaida are safe and are running their affairs perfectly," the voice on the recording said.
An Al-Jazeera presenter quoted Mr. Abu Ghaith as saying that fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who had protected Mr. bin Laden, is also alive.
Mr. Abu Ghaith, a former teacher and mosque preacher who was stripped of his Kuwaiti citizenship after the Sept. 11 attacks, also said al-Qaida had been prepared for the U.S. campaign and that its military, security, economic and media network was unaffected.
Al-Qaida, he said, "is now monitoring, detecting and observing new American targets other than the targets previously monitored, which we will strike at in a period that is not long."
I missed that one- when did that happen?
From a BBC report:
The death toll from an explosion outside an ancient Jewish synagogue in southern Tunisia has risen to 13, after the death of an injured French citizen.
Two German tourists have also died from injuries sustained when a gas tanker crashed and exploded near the building on Thursday, German embassy officials said.
The explosion on the Tunisian island of Djerba was initially reported to have killed six Germans and four Tunisians.
The Tunisian authorities are keen to damp down speculation
The German authorities have sent two investigators to the scene as the Tunisian Government continues to insist it was an accident.
Several residents of Djerba, which is where many of Tunisia's Jews live, told the AFP news agency they thought the blast was accidental.
'No speculation'
The Tunisian authorities say that a truck carrying cooking gas accidentally exploded when it crashed into a wall, but others including the Israeli Government have expressed doubts.
They claim it was a suicide attack and is linked to events in the Middle East.
The truck missed the Ghriba synagogue but exploded near a group of 30 German visitors standing outside.
Around 14 Germans injured in the blast have now been flown home for treatment.
Visiting the scene, Tunisian Tourism Minister Mondher Zenaidi said: "Until the investigation is finished, there should be no speculation."
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said his government wanted the cause of the crash "cleared up beyond doubt."
The Jews of Djerba
Ghriba, whose foundations are said to date from 586 BC, is one of Africa's oldest synagogues and is still functioning.
The island of Djerba, off Tunisia's southeast coast, is a popular holiday destination.
It is also home to around 1,000 of Tunisia's 3,000 Jews. Many Jews left mainland Tunisia for Israel following the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, and more when the synagogue in the capital Tunis was burned down during the 1967 Middle East conflict.
Since then, the Jews of Jerba have been left largely alone.
I'm not into believing that Bin Laden is alive and well. Reason? He's a prima donna. He wants to be on TV.
He's not on TV.
That should tell us something.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
I think you're right. We are going to have to win a "war" of sorts with the politically correct crowd before our country will wipe this scum off the earth.
That is so lame.
"He is still alive. Believe me. He's outside walking the dog right now. I am his spokesman. Follow me and I will relay to you everything he says."
There are some that think saying anything (even in a time of war) to gain a political advantage is OK.
Some don't believe that the enemy is listening and that the enemy will not use what we say or learn from us against us.
Are you listening McKinny.
As for an attack against US interests; If Osama is alive he will want to prove it. If Osama is dead (which I think is more likely) alQuida will try to prove that it can operate anyway. Whichever, something significant will be done prior to 9/11/02.
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