Posted on 01/07/2003 2:31:18 AM PST by kattracks
CAIRO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A new letter purportedly written by senior al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged Muslims to continue a "jihad" to kill Americans and other "enemies of God", an Islamist lawyer who received the document said on Tuesday.
"By God, do not stop the new Muslim souls...from approaching jihad (holy struggle), represented in the killing of all Americans as they kill us," said the letter, received by lawyer Montasser al-Zayat and published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.
Zayat confirmed he had received the letter claiming to be from Osama bin Laden's right-hand-man through the internet on Monday and given a copy to the newspaper for publication.
"...I know that jihad against the enemies of God who kill us in all places must have a price, but this price is very cheap, whatever it is, as long as it satisfies God and will help us enter into heaven," the letter said.
Zawahri is the founder of the Egyptian Jihad group, which alongside the militant al-Gamaa al-Islamiya fought a 1992-1997 campaign to topple the government of President Hosni Mubarak.
The former surgeon made an anti-U.S. pact with bin Laden in 1998. Their whereabouts remain unknown after a U.S. military campaign destroyed al Qaeda's operations in Afghanistan following last year's September 11 attacks on U.S. cities.
Some reports say the two men are together and planning new attacks on the United States.
Zayat, a former acquaintance of Zawahri, was considered an unofficial Gamaa spokesman from 1990-1994, but says he condemns violence and that militants should make peace with the state.
He told Reuters he believed the letter was authentic, saying it had come in response to a letter he had posted to Zawahri through the internet in September. At the time, Zayat had tried to get Zawahri to participate in a seminar via the internet.
In the letter, Zawahri also said he believed it was right to halt militant attacks in Egypt. Since Muslim extremists slaughtered 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians near the southern town of Luxor in November 1997, there has been a lull in militant attacks.
Analysts say that although the government cracked down hard on militants in the aftermath of the Luxor massacre, it was not clear whether radicals had abandoned their dream of setting up a purist Islamic state or whether they were taking a breather before striking again.
((Reporting by Caroline Drees; editing by Diana Abdallah; Reuters Messaging: caroline.drees.reuters.com@reuters.net; cairo newsroom +202 578 3290/1, fax 577 1133))
© Reuters Limited.
We aren't the warmongers.
There's only one way to deal with a rabid dog.
This is more proof that Muslims don't worship the living God. Their god is a demon-god of violence and bloodshed. Muslims are basically savages and heathens.
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one:
*******************
An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.
Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least.
The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2002 earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
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