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US official sez al-Qaeda tape isn't proof of involvement in 7/7
Sounds rather counter-intuitive to me, but okay ...An Al Qaeda videotape featuring a pre-death statement by the suspected ringleader of the July 7 London suicide bombings does not prove the attack was carried out by Osama bin Ladenâs militant network, a US official said on Friday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the Bush administration believes the tape containing the statement by Mohammad Sidique Khan and a message from Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri is authentic. âThereâs never been a fake (Al Qaeda) tape,â the official told Reuters. âIâm sure Al Qaeda is happy to get the word out saying they inspired the event. But the tape doesnât prove that Al Qaeda was behind the attack. âClearly theyâre capable of getting their message out. They use their PR machine to do just that,â the official added. Al Jazeera television on Thursday showed Zawahri and Khan in separate segments of videotaped statements, which the network described as a claim of responsibility from Al Qaeda for the blasts on Londonâs transport system that killed 52 people. London police have said the attacks bore the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda attack but have no evidence that an Al Qaeda mastermind was behind the bombings. In the tape, Khan referred to bin Laden, Zawahri and Al Qaedaâs leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as âtodayâs heroesâ and warned of more attacks. Zawahri praised the London bombings a slap in the face of âarrogant, crusader British rulersâ and warned of further retaliation for Western intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-09-03 |
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