Posted on 09/07/2007 1:04:10 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Osama bin Laden appeared for the first time in three years in a new videotape Friday, telling Americans they should convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end, according to a transcript obtained by ABC News. The videotape appeared to have been recently made, since bin Laden refers to the Democratic victory in COngress and to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was elected in May.
"I invite you to embrace Islam," bin Laden said, according to a transcript posted by ABC News on its Web site.
"It will also achieve your desire to stop the war as a consequence, because as soon as the warmongering owners of the major corporations realize that you have lost confidence in your democratic system and have begun to look for an alternative, and this alternative is Islam, they will run after you to please you and achieve what you want to steer you away from Islam," he said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
CAIRO, Egypt (AP)—The first new images of Osama bin Laden in nearly three years will be released ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, al-Qaida's media arm announced, a move that would end the terror mastermind's longest period without a message.
The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday it had no credible information warning of an imminent threat to the United States, and analysts noted that al-Qaida tends to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary with a slew of messages.
Still, bin Laden's appearance would be significant. The al-Qaida leader has not appeared in new video footage since October 2004, and he has not put out a new audiotape in more than a year.
The announcement and photo appeared in a banner advertisement on an Islamic militant Web site where al-Qaida's media arm, Al-Sahab, frequently posts messages.
"Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the advertisement read, signed by Al-Sahab. Such announcements are usually put out one to three days before the video is posted on the Web.
One difference in his appearance was immediately obvious. The announcement had a still photo from the coming video, showing bin Laden addressing the camera, his beard fully black. In his past videos, bin Laden's beard was almost entirely gray with dark streaks.
Bin Laden's beard appears to have been dyed, a popular practice among Arab leaders, said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, a Washington-based group that monitors terror messages.
"I think it works for their (al-Qaida's) benefit that he looks young, he looks healthy," Katz said.
IntelCenter, which monitors Islamic Web sites and analyzes terror threats, said the video was expected within the next 72 hours, before the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 suicide hijacker attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The anniversary has always been a major media event for al-Qaida—a chance for it to drum up support among extremists, tout itself as the leading militant group and show off its continued survival.
"They've always gone out of their way to commemorate it," said Ben Venzke, chief executive officer of IntelCenter, which is based in Alexandria, Va. "Historically the anniversary of 9-11 has never been drawn to attacks. It's drawn to video releases."
But the fact that bin Laden is delivering the message is significant, he said. Whether the message will indicate a potential attack will depend on what bin Laden says.
The White House said that any new video message from bin Laden would only underscore the threat the United States and other nations face from extremists.
"Six years after 9/11, the arrests in Germany and Denmark this week and the battles we fight against al-Qaida in Iraq, Afghanistan, southeast Asia and around the world remind us of the continuing threat we face from extremists and why we must continue to take the fight to them wherever they are," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House.
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said he could not confirm the existence of a tape, "and there is no credible information at this time warning of an imminent threat to the homeland." But he said increased activity overseas and recent arrests of militants in Germany reinforce the department's assessment that the country is currently in a period of increased risk.
If bin Laden does appear in new footage, it would be the first images of him since an Oct. 29, 2004 videotape, just before the U.S. presidential elections. In that appearance three years ago, he said America could avoid another 9-11 style attack if it stopped threatening Muslims.
The new video would also end the longest period bin Laden has gone without releasing a message. His last audiotape was on July 1, 2006, in which he welcomed new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq succeeding the slain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Bin Laden went silent for a similar long stretch before—from Dec. 28, 2004 to Jan. 19, 2006. That absence sparked widespread speculation he was ill, wounded or possibly dead.
There has been little such speculation since then. U.S. officials have repeatedly said over the past year they believe the al-Qaida leader is alive. He is thought to be hiding in the tribal regions of western Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan.
During bin Laden's silence, his deputy Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri has been frequently issuing videos and audiotapes.
Al-Zawahri appeared in a 2006 video marking the 9-11 anniversary. An anniversary video in 2003 showed footage of bin Laden and al-Zawahri walking through mountain paths, with voice-over messages from both leaders.
I’m a pro-life feminist, too. I’m convinced that Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony would be horrified if they were alive to see what “feminism” has become today.
Would Muslim violence come to an end if all nations on earth converted to Islam?
Hmmm, I’d like to see a side by side.
Of course.
Take the Darfur for example.
No, wait....
........
Sounds.......wonderful. Do I get to live in a cave and wipe my butt with my hands, too?
Ping for clarification.
Convert... capitulate...
It’s all the same.
I agree. Positively horrified.
While reveling in the Freedoms our mothers fought so hard for they forge on for some femi dictatorship that would be just as devastating to the human species as what has come before.
The pendulum never seems to want to stop in the middle.
How can they fail to see that what has already been done in the Western world is worth preserving from complete destruction?
“Bin Laden Urges Americans to Convert”
- But...doesn’t this guy believe in Multiculturalism like all other fair-minded haters of Western Civilization?
I’d rather die
“He’s dead, Jim.”
Yes, dead since December 2003 I believe.
I was thinking exactly the same thing.... I think it's also a VERY bad sign that he mentions the Anniversary of Hiroshima. We've been reading for years now that Al-Qaeda had named their new plan "American Hiroshima"...
If they really do have a plan, this is very clearly the signal to launch it.
It could very well be that this message was taped a long time ago....as part of their plan. But, that really doesn't matter.
The scariest part of this to me is.... the predictable response of the Bush-haters... just read some of the replies on the ABC page about this video. Simply amazing. People here will just NOT GET IT... until one or more American cities is unihabitable for 10,000 years... even then, I expect they will blame Bush.
Throw in a free flat screen and month’s free NFL package and we might consider it.
If it actually is NOT, this phenomena is baffling, to say the least.
Maybe these confused people are not a big threat to Texas or anything else, but what they’re up to is of course pointless and ridiculous.
As a true friend of The US, I urge all Americans to reflect upon this question:
- Are Sharia laws compatible with The US Constitution?
Over here in Europe, we have arrived at the conclusion that “sharia is incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy” (Quote from The European Court for Human Rights).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia#Sharia.2C_democracy_and_human_rights
It's called denial. Some things are just to horrible to contemplate as real. It's amazing how the human body sets up such defenses. In this case it works sort of like the euphoria one gets with a mortal wound, just before the end.
On the other hand, some semiconscious liberals think they can deal with these fanatics in the same way they have some of our out of control Christians. It's sad really that they don't know any better. But how could they? All religion looks the same to them.
But, it’s even worse than simple denial... these idiots ACTUALLY believe that the real threat is Bush/Rove/Rummy... even though 2 of them aren’t even in government anymore.
I mean.. just how twisted do you have to be to believe this crap? To actually believe that a US President PLANNED to destroy the World Trade Center towers? To believe that our government would produce these kinds of videos to justify a war. It’s a sad, sad world these people are in..
You hit it right out of the ball park. Islam is from Satan, let us not kid ourselves.
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.