Bin Laden's aid idea seen as bid for support

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PARIS: French Minister for Women's Rights and Government Spokesperson, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, arrives to attend a social conference with unions and employers here Monday. This two-day conference is a key test for the ruling Socialists who have pledged to

CAIRO, Oct 2 (AP): Osama bin Laden called for the creation of a new relief body to help Muslims, seeking to exploit discontent after this summer's devastating floods in Pakistan by depicting the region's governments as uncaring.
The audiotape released Friday was the third message in recent weeks from Al Qaeda figures concerning the massive floods that affected around 20 million people in Pakistan, signaling a concentrated campaign by the terror group to tap into anger over the flooding to rally support.
But while the earlier messages by subordinates were angry, urging followers to rise up, the top Al Qaeda leader took a softer, even humanitarian tone, apparently trying to broaden Al Qaeda's appeal by presenting the group as a problem-solving protector of the poor.
"What governments spend on relief work is secondary to what they spend on armies,'' bin Laden says on the 11-minute tape titled "Reflections on the Method of Relief Work.''
"If governments spent on relief only 1 per cent of what is spent on armies, they would change the face of the world for poor people,'' he said.