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From the London Times
Bin Laden film vows revenge on the UK
Dipesh Gadher
AN ENCRYPTED video containing previously unseen footage of Osama Bin Laden singling out Britain as a terrorist target has been obtained by The Sunday Times.
The 40-minute propaganda film includes an interview with the Al-Qaeda leader, recorded after the start of the West's offensive in Afghanistan, in which he compares the conflict with the medieval crusade led by Richard the Lion-Heart.
Another short section shows the terrorist warlord speaking about martyrdom against the backdrop of a fertile plain and hills that his supporters claim, was filmed just eight weeks ago. If true, it would provide the first evidence that Bin Laden survived the recent allied attacks on the Tora Bora mountain complex in Afghanistan.
The film's existence is revealed as US intelligence agencies report a number of communications among Al-Qaeda members that suggest the organisation is plotting to carry out an operation at least as big as the September 11 attacks.
Debbie Weierman, an FBI spokesman, said last night that the agencies had received "non-specific" information that Al-Qaeda could be planning to rent a flat and pack it with explosives. She said that FBI offices and local apartment managers around the country had been alerted.
Last Friday a London-based Arabic newspaper claimed that Mullah Omar, the former Taliban leader, whose whereabouts are also unknown, had confirmed in an interview that Bin Laden was still alive.
According to a Birmingham-based Islamic news agency, which obtained the film of Bin Laden, it was passed to one of its journalists by a Pakistani intelligence official who said the "new" segment had been filmed in March.
The tape arrived in Britain on an encrypted CD-Rom and was decoded by the agency last week. The "new" footage shows Bin Laden sitting under a tree outside a stone building on what appears to be a pleasant spring evening, wearing a camouflage jacket and an Afghan pakul hat. He is filmed discussing jihad and martyrdom with several armed henchmen.
In the sequence Bin Laden appears more gaunt than in previous footage and his delivery lacks some of the zeal of previous broadcasts.
"Concerning the situation that we are in, we must praise Allah that he has allowed us to follow the path of [men who are among] the best of creation," he says. Quoting from an Islamic scripture, Bin Laden adds: "I wish that I would go to jihad and die."
Whitehall sources, who have yet to view the film, said the transcript did not provide enough clues to date it. Other experts were sceptical that Bin Laden was still alive, believing Al-Qaeda would have publicised his survival more directly.
The film is interspersed with images of the attacks on the World Trade Center and footage of western leaders meeting their Middle Eastern counterparts. One clip shows Tony Blair being greeted by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The film also includes a lengthy tribute to Al-Qaeda men allegedly killed in action.
The opening sequence, however, is likely to be of greatest interest to the British authorities. It features an interview with Bin Laden carried out by a reporter from Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based television station.
Filmed by Al-Qaeda cameramen last October, it has not been broadcast to date because Al-Jazeera executives judged that they had not had sufficient control over the interview.
Bin Laden makes it clear that any country siding with Israel and America is a target for Islamic terrorists. "The war is between us and the Jews," he says. "Any country that steps into the same trench as the Jews has only herself to blame."
Referring to an earlier warning made by Sheikh Sulaiman Abu Gaith, a spokesman for Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden adds that if the sheikh "specifically targeted Britain and America — this war is not confined to them — it served as an opportunity for other nations to revise their stance".
He then proceeds to draw parallels between the war on terror and the crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries. "This war is similar to the previous crusades, led by Richard the Lion-Heart, [King Frederick] Barbarossa of Germany and Louis [IX] of France. In the present age, they rally behind [George] Bush," he says.
Shortly after becoming king of England in 1189, Richard I set out on the third crusade and in 1191 captured Acre, in what is now Israel. His most notorious act was ordering the execution of 2,700 Muslim prisoners.
Another part of the film features images of several Al-Qaeda "martyrs" believed to have been killed in fighting in Kandahar.
Intelligence officials in Washington who have intercepted Al-Qaeda communications say they have increased in the past month and relate to a possible attack in Europe, the Arabian peninsula or America. Some information has come from interviews with fighters captured in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden film vows revenge on the UK
Dipesh Gadher
AN ENCRYPTED video containing previously unseen footage of Osama Bin Laden singling out Britain as a terrorist target has been obtained by The Sunday Times.
The 40-minute propaganda film includes an interview with the Al-Qaeda leader, recorded after the start of the West's offensive in Afghanistan, in which he compares the conflict with the medieval crusade led by Richard the Lion-Heart.
Another short section shows the terrorist warlord speaking about martyrdom against the backdrop of a fertile plain and hills that his supporters claim, was filmed just eight weeks ago. If true, it would provide the first evidence that Bin Laden survived the recent allied attacks on the Tora Bora mountain complex in Afghanistan.
The film's existence is revealed as US intelligence agencies report a number of communications among Al-Qaeda members that suggest the organisation is plotting to carry out an operation at least as big as the September 11 attacks.
Debbie Weierman, an FBI spokesman, said last night that the agencies had received "non-specific" information that Al-Qaeda could be planning to rent a flat and pack it with explosives. She said that FBI offices and local apartment managers around the country had been alerted.
Last Friday a London-based Arabic newspaper claimed that Mullah Omar, the former Taliban leader, whose whereabouts are also unknown, had confirmed in an interview that Bin Laden was still alive.
According to a Birmingham-based Islamic news agency, which obtained the film of Bin Laden, it was passed to one of its journalists by a Pakistani intelligence official who said the "new" segment had been filmed in March.
The tape arrived in Britain on an encrypted CD-Rom and was decoded by the agency last week. The "new" footage shows Bin Laden sitting under a tree outside a stone building on what appears to be a pleasant spring evening, wearing a camouflage jacket and an Afghan pakul hat. He is filmed discussing jihad and martyrdom with several armed henchmen.
In the sequence Bin Laden appears more gaunt than in previous footage and his delivery lacks some of the zeal of previous broadcasts.
"Concerning the situation that we are in, we must praise Allah that he has allowed us to follow the path of [men who are among] the best of creation," he says. Quoting from an Islamic scripture, Bin Laden adds: "I wish that I would go to jihad and die."
Whitehall sources, who have yet to view the film, said the transcript did not provide enough clues to date it. Other experts were sceptical that Bin Laden was still alive, believing Al-Qaeda would have publicised his survival more directly.
The film is interspersed with images of the attacks on the World Trade Center and footage of western leaders meeting their Middle Eastern counterparts. One clip shows Tony Blair being greeted by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The film also includes a lengthy tribute to Al-Qaeda men allegedly killed in action.
The opening sequence, however, is likely to be of greatest interest to the British authorities. It features an interview with Bin Laden carried out by a reporter from Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based television station.
Filmed by Al-Qaeda cameramen last October, it has not been broadcast to date because Al-Jazeera executives judged that they had not had sufficient control over the interview.
Bin Laden makes it clear that any country siding with Israel and America is a target for Islamic terrorists. "The war is between us and the Jews," he says. "Any country that steps into the same trench as the Jews has only herself to blame."
Referring to an earlier warning made by Sheikh Sulaiman Abu Gaith, a spokesman for Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden adds that if the sheikh "specifically targeted Britain and America — this war is not confined to them — it served as an opportunity for other nations to revise their stance".
He then proceeds to draw parallels between the war on terror and the crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries. "This war is similar to the previous crusades, led by Richard the Lion-Heart, [King Frederick] Barbarossa of Germany and Louis [IX] of France. In the present age, they rally behind [George] Bush," he says.
Shortly after becoming king of England in 1189, Richard I set out on the third crusade and in 1191 captured Acre, in what is now Israel. His most notorious act was ordering the execution of 2,700 Muslim prisoners.
Another part of the film features images of several Al-Qaeda "martyrs" believed to have been killed in fighting in Kandahar.
Intelligence officials in Washington who have intercepted Al-Qaeda communications say they have increased in the past month and relate to a possible attack in Europe, the Arabian peninsula or America. Some information has come from interviews with fighters captured in Afghanistan.
Im usually the kind of person who is tolerant of most anything........But with these extremists........Ive had enough.
