Anonymous
12-16-2004, 06:37 AM
December 16, 2004 - 9:45PM
A man identified as Osama bin Laden bitterly criticised the Saudi regime in an audiotape posted on an Islamic web site today.
The voice sounded like the al-Qaeda terror chief's, and the tape was posted on a site known as a clearinghouse for militant Islamic comment.
The speaker said that while Saudi leaders blame "holy warriors'' for trouble in the kingdom, "the truth is that the whole responsibility falls on the shoulders of the regime.''
The speaker, in calm and even tones, accused Saudi rulers of "violating God's rules,'' a common theme of statements from bin Laden, who accuses Saudi rulers of being insufficiently Islamic and too close to the ``infidel'' United States.
"The sins the regime committed are great . . . it practiced injustices against the people, violating their rights, humiliating their pride,'' the speaker said. He also accused the Saudi royal family of mispending public money while "millions of people are suffering from poverty and deprivation.''
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AdvertisementThe main statement was preceded by Quranic verses, a rhetorical device typical of bin Laden.
On December 6, five militants shot their way into the compound of the US Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, killing five non-American employees.
Saudi Arabia cracked down on Muslim extremists after the May 2003 bombings of three residential compounds in Riyadh brought terrorism home to the kingdom, but has not been able to contain the violence.
Bin Laden, believed hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, last reached out to his followed in October, with a videotape aired on the Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera.
In that statement, he for the first time clearly took responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States and said America could avoid another such strike if it stopped threatening the security of Muslims.
- AP
http://www.theage.com.au/news/War-on-Terror/New-Bin-Laden-tape-released/2004/12/16/1102787215090.html?oneclick=true
A man identified as Osama bin Laden bitterly criticised the Saudi regime in an audiotape posted on an Islamic web site today.
The voice sounded like the al-Qaeda terror chief's, and the tape was posted on a site known as a clearinghouse for militant Islamic comment.
The speaker said that while Saudi leaders blame "holy warriors'' for trouble in the kingdom, "the truth is that the whole responsibility falls on the shoulders of the regime.''
The speaker, in calm and even tones, accused Saudi rulers of "violating God's rules,'' a common theme of statements from bin Laden, who accuses Saudi rulers of being insufficiently Islamic and too close to the ``infidel'' United States.
"The sins the regime committed are great . . . it practiced injustices against the people, violating their rights, humiliating their pride,'' the speaker said. He also accused the Saudi royal family of mispending public money while "millions of people are suffering from poverty and deprivation.''
Advertisement
AdvertisementThe main statement was preceded by Quranic verses, a rhetorical device typical of bin Laden.
On December 6, five militants shot their way into the compound of the US Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, killing five non-American employees.
Saudi Arabia cracked down on Muslim extremists after the May 2003 bombings of three residential compounds in Riyadh brought terrorism home to the kingdom, but has not been able to contain the violence.
Bin Laden, believed hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, last reached out to his followed in October, with a videotape aired on the Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera.
In that statement, he for the first time clearly took responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States and said America could avoid another such strike if it stopped threatening the security of Muslims.
- AP
http://www.theage.com.au/news/War-on-Terror/New-Bin-Laden-tape-released/2004/12/16/1102787215090.html?oneclick=true