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| Afghanistan |
| Mullah Omar 'gives interview' |
| 2002-05-17 |
| A Saudi newspaper has published what it says is an interview with Taleban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar in which he says al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden is still alive. Mullah Omar — whose own whereabouts are unknown — is also quoted as saying that the future of the United States in Afghanistan is "fire, hell and total defeat". Oh, dear. He sounds so bloodthirsty! Should we take this seriously? Has he ever made similar threats? The London-based pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat does not disclose when it conducted the interview. The newspaper said Mullah Omar had answered its questions, submitted in writing, via his information adviser, who translated the questions and answers between Arabic and Pashto. Asharq al-Awsat only said the fugitive, who has eluded US forces since the fall of the Taleban's last bastion of Kandahar last year, was hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan. Wotta surprise. If authentic, the interview would mark the first time Mullah Omar has spoken in detail since being driven from power. First time he's popped his little turbanned head up, isn't it? In the interview, Mullah Omar is quoted as saying that "the battle [in Afghanistan] has [just] started, its fire has been kindled and it will engulf the White House, seat of injustice and tyranny. [The United States] launched a war against Islam and Muslims without any legitimate justification, and I am confident that God [will grant Muslims] victory." Mullah Omar did not admit any responsibility for the 11 September attacks, but said: "There were reasons behind these great deeds. America should seek to remove these reasons - and it knows them well - so that such accidents do not re-occur." "Oh, why do they hate us? What are the root causes of this cycle of violence?" Hand me my pills, Martha... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |