Al-Qaeda issues bloody warning

2005-07-19 13:27

Dubai - The al-Qaeda terror network warned European nations to pull their troops out of Iraq within a month or face more attacks like the London bombings, according to an internet statement.

"This message is the final warning to European states. We want to give you a one-month deadline to bring your soldiers out from the land of Mesopotamia (Iraq)," said the statement signed by al-Qaeda group the Brigades Abu Hafs al-Masri and dated July 16.

After August 15, "there will be no more messages, just actions that will be engraved on the heart of Europe.

"It will be a bloody war in the service of God," said the statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified.

"It's a message we are addressing to the crusaders who are still present in Iraq - Denmark, the Netherlands, Britain, Italy and those other countries whose troops continue to criss-cross Iraqi territory.

"These are our last words. The mujahedeen, who are on the lookout, will have other words to say in your capitals."

A statement issued in the name of the "Europe Division" of the same al-Qaeda group claimed responsibility for the July 7 bombings on London's public transport system which killed at least 56 people and wounded around 700.

The same group also claimed the 2004 train bombings in Madrid and the 2003 attacks in Istanbul.

- AFP