Bin Laden slams EU over prophet cartoons
Friday, 21 March 2008
CAIRO, Mar 20 (AP): Osama bin Laden warned in a new audiotape of a "severe" reaction for Europeans' publication of cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in what experts saw as a direct threat of a new attack in Europe.
The message, posted late Wednesday on a militant Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin Laden aiming with an assault rifle.
"The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God," said a voice believed to be bin Laden's, without specifying what action would be taken.
Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCentre, a US group that monitors militant messages, called Wednesday's video a "clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack."
The five-minute message, bin Laden's first this year, made no mention of the fifth anniversary Wednesday of the US-led invasion in Iraq.
The message, posted late Wednesday on a militant Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin Laden aiming with an assault rifle.
"The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God," said a voice believed to be bin Laden's, without specifying what action would be taken.
Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCentre, a US group that monitors militant messages, called Wednesday's video a "clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack."
The five-minute message, bin Laden's first this year, made no mention of the fifth anniversary Wednesday of the US-led invasion in Iraq.