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Bin Laden threatens Europe
20/03/2008 09:14 - (SA)
Washington - Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warned Europe on Wednesday of a "reckoning" for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, US monitoring groups said.
In the message, addressed to the "intelligent ones" in the European Union, bin Laden said that publishing the "insulting drawings" was a greater crime than Western forces targeting Muslim villages and killing women and children.
And the "reckoning for it will be more severe," he said, according to a transcript of the message provided by the Virginia-based IntelCentre.
Referring to a series of cartoons published in Danish newspapers, the al-Qaeda leader also warned: "if there is no check on the freedom of your words, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions."
And cryptically he added that the Muslims' response to the insult will be "what you see, not what you hear".
The five-minute audio message, titled "May Our Mothers Be Bereaved Of Us If We Fail to Help Our Prophet," was posted by As-Sahab, al-Qaeda's media arm, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
The message coincided with the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War.
'Clear threat against EU'
The audio track with English subtitles is heard over a video image of bin Laden holding an AK-47 automatic rifle.
IntelCenter chief Ben Venzke said bin Laden's message was "a clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack".
"However, it is unclear in exactly what timeframe it may occur," he said.
Protests have raged in a number of Muslim countries since 17 Danish dailies on February 13 reprinted a drawing featuring the Prophet Mohammed's head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse.
The newspapers decided to republish the caricature, originally printed in 2005, a day after police in Denmark foiled a plot to murder the cartoonist.
'Savage acts' in Iraq
Bin Laden's message also includes a nugget for US President George W Bush, whom he describes as Europe's "oppressive ally who - along with his aggressive policies - is about to depart the White House."
He said the "savage acts" of the US-led military coalition in Iraq and Afghanistan "haven't ended the war, but rather (have) increased our determination to cling to our right, avenge our people and expel the invaders from our country."
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