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Source: Reuters -
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Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warned the American people over
their government's close ties with Israel in an apparently new
audio tape posted on an Islamist website.
"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the
ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby,"
Bin Laden's latest tape said.
"The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally
Israel, occupying our land in Palestine."
The message, entitled A statement to the American people, was
around 11 minutes long and was posted a few days after the eighth
anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify its authenticity but the
website often is used by supporters of al Qaeda.
In the tape, the al Qaeda leader said there had been no real change
in American policy because US President Barack Obama had retained
people like US Defence Secretary Robert Gates from the
administration of former President George Bush.
"If you think about your situation well, you will know that the
White House is occupied by pressure groups," Bin Laden said.
"Rather than fighting to liberate Iraq - as Bush claimed - it (the
White House) should have been liberated."
Analysts who study al Qaeda say the organisation is under pressure
from followers to strike at Israel following criticism from many
Arab commentators that it has never succeeded in launching a direct
attack on the Jewish state.
Increasingly frequent and belligerent mentions of the
Israeli-Palestinian dispute in al Qaeda statements is an attempt to
deflect such criticism, they say.
"He is telling a saving lie (that) we are still strong, despite the
setbacks we had," said one Gulf-based security analyst. "This is
not true."
Professor Ali Jalali, an Afghan expert on south and central Asia at
the National Defense University in Washington, said bin Laden was
also attempting to exploit wavering about the war in Afghanistan in
Europe and the United States.
"He thinks the West is tired of the war and with a little more
pressure and intimidation you might expedite this. They want to
exploit the situation," said Jalali, who was Afghan Interior
Minister from 2003 to 2005.
"They are also sending a message to insurgent forces in Afghanistan
and Pakistan that they have not lost morale despite the increase in
US forces and that eventually they will prevail."
In hiding
The leader of the group that mounted the September 11 attacks in
the United States is thought to be in hiding in the mountainous
terrain along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
The attacks carried out by al Qaeda operatives in 2001 killed
nearly 3,000 people.
The tape made reference to Obama's speech in Cairo in June,
suggesting the message was recorded afterwards.
The speaker also appeared to refer to criticisms former US
President Jimmy Carter made in June of Israel's Gaza invasion
earlier this year.
Bin Laden's last apparent message was issued just before Obama's
speech, where the president talked of a new beginning between the
United States and the Muslim world.
In the new message, bin Laden also referred to US military actions
in Afghanistan to support the Afghan government against the
Taliban, allies of al Qaeda, and support for Pakistan, which faces
militant violence.
"If you stop the war, then fine. Otherwise we will have no choice
but to continue our war of attrition on every front... If you
choose safety and stopping wars, as opinion polls show you do, then
we are ready to respond to this."
"You have only changed the faces in the White House," he said,
referring to Obama who took office this year.
"Obama is a weakened man. He will not be able to stop the war."
