Osama bin Laden stresses the importance of martyrdom for Muslim causes in a videotape that purportedly contains a 50-second message from the al Qaeda leader.
The 40-minute videotape, whose audio was being translated from Arabic by CNN, was intercepted before it was to appear on several Islamist Web sites known for carrying statements from al Qaeda and other radical groups.
The videotape was made in the last four weeks, but the clips appear to be old, said Octavia Nasr, CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs. There is no indication of where it was shot, and CNN cannot verify its authenticity.
Bin Laden, with a body guard standing directly behind him, is looking down slightly in the video, appearing to address an audience below, which is unseen.
He says that the Prophet Mohammed wanted to be a martyr, and that is a worthy goal for every Muslim. "So be alert, be wise and think. What is this status that the best of mankind wished for himself? He wished to be a martyr. He himself said, 'By him in whose hands my life is! I would love to attack and be martyred, then attack again and be martyred, then attack again and be martyred.'
"So this whole broad life is summarized by him who was inspired by God, the Lord of the heavens and earth, praised and exalted is he. This glorious prophet who was inspired by God summarized this entire life by these words. He wished upon himself this status. Happy is the one who was chosen by God as a martyr."
Bin Laden was one of several men appearing and speaking on the tape. They include Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq who was killed in a U.S. airstrike June 7, 2006. How big is al-Qaeda? »
The video was branded by As-Sahab Media, the company that traditionally handles al Qaeda communications to the public. The environment shown is similar to that on releases made before the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, in which bin Laden is seen in the company of some of the hijackers, Nasr said. Some of the backdrops also resemble those shown in videos when the U.S. attacks against the Taliban in Afghanistan began not long after the 9/11 attacks, she added.
The last time a recording of bin Laden was made public it was an audiotape, with an Arabic transcript, released on June 30, 2006.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/14/bin.laden.video/index.html
The thrice repetition rears its head again. Is it a cultural thing, or are we looking at a code?
Thanks for the article Oorang.
I didn’t know that UBL message was so short...it’s probably going to be an (old) cut and paste in in my opinion (sight unseen).
Finally, whether UBL is dead or alive; he is the icon for jihad and that in itself is a powerful motivator to jihadis, jihadi wannabes and jihadi supporters.
But I guess he just couldn't quite pull it off.
Pity.
I always expected that the fight between good and evil would by it’s nature include many gray areas, but I was wrong.
Pre 9/11 style footage, triple repetition of a phrase. However, old OBL footage, hmmmmm
Thanks, Oorang.
I heard this about this on the radio at work this afternoon. I smiled to myself *knowing* Laura must have snagged another tape out from under the jihadis prior to their planned release. Great job, Laura!
Laura, is there a way to know when this would have been slated for release? My guess would be that the tape was to be disseminated on either 7/19 or 7/21.
It appears the brain dead bin Laden hasn't figured out that you can only be martyred once. I can only recall one case of resurrection of a mortal...Lazarus and one of Jesus Christ himself. Neither of them were martyrs. Allah and Mohammed hadn't been invented yet.
Bin Laden was one of several men appearing and speaking on the tape. They include Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq who was killed in a U.S. airstrike June 7, 2006. How big is al-Qaeda?
That dates the tape to a time prior to 6-7-2006 and probably after 9-11-2001. Pulling out archival tapes is hardly a "fresh" threat. It suggests there is no current leadership capable of formulating and communicating a threat at the current time.