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Online threat calls for decapitation of Western leaders
A message menacing Western leaders including Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlsuconi appeared on an Islamist website on Thursday. The message - whose authenticity has yet to be verified - threatens to "decapitate" US president George W. Bush, Britain's prime minister Tony Blair, Berlusconi, Japan's prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, and Australian premier John Howard.A section of the message - which reveals a good knowledge of Italian affairs on the part of its author- attacks Berlusconi, announcing: "the plan for his abduction has been laid - it only needs the go-ahead to be given." "Our appointment will be in April," the message reads. Italy is due to hold a general election on 9 April. The message criticises Italian foreign policy and its continuing presence of Italian troops in Iraq, saying this has put Italy "on top of a volcano - for a mere 2,900 soldiers." It praises opposition leader Romano Prodi for announcing he will withdraw Italy's troops, and threatens "attacks on the streets of Rome, if candidates run the election who support war". It describes as a "martyr" the mayor of a town near Naples who named one of its streets after former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat instead of "The martyrs of Nasiriya" to commemorate the Italian soldiers killed at the military barracks in the Iraqi town in a November 2003 in a suicide bombing. As in an earlier message threatening Italy, the message is signed by 'Rakan Ben Williams' - or 'bin Wilyamz', as it is written in Arabic - and by the purported al-Qaeda mouthpiece, the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF). After the Amman suicide bombings in three hotels this month, GIMF published a letter signed by the same author, titled 'The next al-Qaeda soldier' warning of "white" converts to Islam who were preparaning for upcoming attacks in Europe and the US. GIMF has also posted webcasts of the so-called 'Al-Qaeda TV' to several Islamist sites in recent weeks. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-11-25 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=135878 |