Tape not a negotiation offer

2004-04-16 14:43

Lisbon - Osama bin Laden's purported truce proposal to European nations made on a new audio tape was a unilateral offer that was not open to negotiation, the leader of the radical Islamic group al-Mouhadjiroun said in remarks published on Friday in Portugal.

"The message is from bin Laden himself, this I can confirm with total certainty," Omar Bakri Mohammed, who is suspected of having links with Abu Qatada, an alleged al-Qaeda leader in Europe, told the Publico newspaper.

"But it is in no way a proposal for dialogue. Al-Qaeda does not negotiate with states. It is a unilateral offer," the controversial London-based figure added.

In the audiotape attributed to bin Laden broadcast on Thursday, the al-Qaeda head offered a truce to European nations if they withdrew troops from Muslim countries but vowed to continue fighting the United States and Israel.

Analysts said the tape, which has been deemed authentic by Washington, appeared to be an attempt to split the US-led coalition in Iraq.

Several European nations, including France, Germany and Britain have already publicly rejected the truce offer.

Asked if al-Qaeda representatives would ever sit down with representatives of European or other Western nations to negotiate an end to the organisation's extremist activities, Bakri said: "That would never be possible."

"Al-Qaeda does not negotiate with governments. It is merely a self-defence group. It spreads terror in response to the terror of the West against Muslims. That is its language, its dialogue."

- AFP