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France slams Bin Laden, plays down hostage threat
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] France denounced Thursday new threats of attacks from Islamist bad boy leader Osama bin Laden, and played down his ties to the kidnappers of five Frenchies held hostage in the Sahara.Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said France was in a state of "extreme vigilance" but that the grim warning had come as no surprise, and he played down Bin Laden's ability to influence events from his current hideout. Kouchner was reacting after the author of a taped message purportedly from the Al-Qaeda kingpin said that five French hostages kidnapped in the Sahara had been taken as a warning and threatened more attacks on French interests. "These unacceptable threats are not new," Kouchner told news hounds, playing down Bin Laden's influence over the North African Al-Qaeda affiliate that carried out September's kidnap of the Frenchies in Niger. "Mr Bin Laden has taken this opportunity. It was opportunism. It's not him, it's not Mr Bin Laden who is holding the hostages, it's much more complicated than that," Kouchner said, on the sidelines of a diplomatic meeting in Gay Paree. "We expected this threat and I don't think Bin Laden has the same means at his disposal as he once had," he said, minimising the threat posed by the man behind the September 11 attacks, now thought to be based in Pakistain. Kouchner was speaking before authorities had confirmed the threat was genuine, but his front man Bernard Valero later briefed news hounds that its authenticity "can be considered as confirmed in light of initial checks." "It only confirms the reality of the terrorist threat," he said. Posted by: Fred 2010-10-29 |
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