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Bin Laden calls for Pakistan relief in new tape
In a speech entitled "Help Your Pak Brothers," the al-Qaeda leader focuses on the reluctance of Arab and Mohammedan countries to help Paks, singling out Gulf states, Malaysia and Turkey, SITE Intelligence Group said. "The response did not match the level of the disaster," said the voice whose authenticity could not be immediately verified. Bin Laden said Arab and Mohammedan leaders had not paid any visits to flood-hit areas unlike U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon, and added Arabian Peninsula oil wealth should be used as it "belongs to all Mohammedans." The 13-minute recording appeared on the Internet around 24 hours after bin Laden expressed concern about global climate change and flooding in Pakistain in a similar audio message aired on the Internet. "The number of victims caused by climate change is very big... bigger than the victims of wars," bin Laden said in Friday's tape, which would have been the first time he had spoken publicly since March 25. The production date given for Saturday's message was the Mohammedan lunar month which began around Sept. 10, while Friday's tape was said to have been produced in the previous month. Paul Pillar, a former top U.S. intelligence official, said that that message by bin Laden was aimed at polishing his battered image among Mohammedans. He aims "to counteract his loss of support among people who have come to perceive him as an uncaring terrorist who has no hesitation about spilling the blood even of fellow Mohammedans," Pillar told AFP. Bin Laden's whereabouts are unknown, but in August, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, said he is "far buried" in the remote mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistain and that capturing him remains a key task. Posted by: Fred 2010-10-03 |
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