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Binny sez he'll never be taken alive in full audio tape
Osama bin Laden promised never to be captured alive and declared the U.S. had resorted to the same "repressive" tactics used by Saddam Hussein, according to an audiotape purportedly by the al-Qaeda leader that was posted Monday on a militant website.The tape appeared to be a complete version of one that was first broadcast Jan. 19 on Al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite channel, in which bin Laden offered the United States a long-term truce but also said his al-Qaeda terror network would soon launch a fresh attack on American soil. "I have sworn to only live free. Even if I find bitter the taste of death, I don't want to die humiliated or deceived," Mr. bin Laden said. In drawing the comparison to American military behaviour in Iraq to that of Mr. Hussein, the speaker said: "The jihad is continuing with strength, for Allah be all the credit, despite all the barbarity, the repressive steps taken by the American army and its agents, to the extent that there is no longer any mentionable difference between this criminality and the criminality of Saddam." With the implied criticism of Mr. Hussein, Mr. bin Laden appeared to be denying assertions by the United States that the former Iraqi leader had ties to al-Qaeda ties that were given as one rationale for invading Iraq. In the full tape that was posted Monday, bin Laden engaged in renewed propaganda, mocking President George W. Bush's aircraft carrier declaration in April 2003 that major conflict in Iraq had ended. Speaking directly to the American people, the speaker said: "You can rescue whatever you can from this hell. The solution is in your hands, if their (U.S. troops') situation matters to you at all." The initial excerpts had been the first tape from the al-Qaida leader in more than a year the longest period without a message since the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackings in the United States. The CIA last month authenticated the voice on the initial recording as that of bin Laden, an agency official told The Associated Press at the time. The al-Qaida leader is believed to be hiding in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-02-20 |
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