Bin Laden warns of more attacks

AGENCE FRANCE- PRESSE DUBAI, Jan 24: Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden claimed the botched Christmas Day bombing of a US airliner and threatened further strikes on US targets, in an audio statement broadcast Sunday on Al-Jazeera television.

"The message that was conveyed through the (attacked) plane of the hero Umar Farouk (Abdulmutallab) is to stress earlier messages delivered to you by the heroes of the 11" September attack on the United States, he said.

"That (message) is, that America should not dream of security until we enjoy it as a reality in Palestine," he added.

Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to blow up a Northwest Airline flight over Detroit on Christmas Day but he was thwarted by fellow passengers who pounced on him.

"It is not fair that you (America) enjoy a good life while our brothers in Gaza endure the worst standard of living," bin Laden said.

"Therefore, God willing, our attacks against you will continue as long as you maintain your support to Israel," he warned.

The authenticity of the brief audio statement could not immediately be verified but Al-Jazeera said the voice was that of bin Laden.

Bin Laden, who has a 50-million-dollar bounty on his head and has been in hiding for the past eight years, last made a public statement four months ago when he was quoted on September 25 by SITE Intelligence Group monitoring service as urging European countries to pull their forces out of Afghanistan.

In a similar audio message released in March, Bin Laden accused some Arab leaders of being "complicit" with Israel and the West against Muslims and urged holy war to liberate the Palestinian territories.

Al-Qaeda´s franchise in Yemen, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, had claimed responsibility for the plane attack, while Washington accused the group of training Abdulmutallab, who had spent some time in Yemen.

The US administration is putting pressure on Yemen to clamp down on Al-Qaeda militants in the impoverished country, and an international meeting to discuss combating militancy in Yemen will be held on January 27 in London.

The Yemeni government has intensified its campaign against Al-Qaeda, whom it insists it can battle on its own, without any foreign military intervention.

A US grand jury has indicted 23-year-old Abdulmutallab on six counts arising from the attempt to blow up the jet packed packed with 279 passengers and 11 crew on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Michigan district court documents accused him of "carrying a concealed bomb" of high explosives inside his clothing on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

US intelligence chiefs last Wednesday admitted that they missed a slew of warning signs that should have prevented the attempted attack.

National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair and Michael Leiter, head of the National Counter-terrorism Center, made the joint admission during a grilling from the Senate´s committee on homeland security and governmental affairs.

Conceding that the system "collectively failed," the two officials said the Abdulmutallab, "should not have stepped on that plane."

Intelligence officials, military analysts and other experts have long believed bin Laden is holed up along the remote mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A chronology of past Bin Laden tapes:

2001

- Oct 7: "America has been hit by Allah at its most vulnerable point, destroying, thank God, its most prestigious buildings." (Al-Jazeera audiotape, in reference to September 11, 2001 attacks on United States.)

- Dec 13: "We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy who would be killed based on the position of the tower." (Video said by Washington to have been found by US troops in Afghanistan)

- Dec 27: "Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel, which kills our people." (Al-Jazeera video)

2002

- Jan 31: "The battle has moved to inside America. We will work to continue this battle, God permitting, until victory or until we meet God." (Al-Jazeera interview)

- Sept 9: "When we evoke the raids on New York and Washington, we speak of the men who changed the course of history and cleansed the... filth of treacherous rulers and their subordinates." (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

- Nov 13: Hails terror attacks in Tunisia and Bali and a Moscow hostage-taking. (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

2003

- Feb 11: "All those who cooperate with the Americans against Iraq are hostile to Islam. We stress the importance of martyrdom operations against the enemy." (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

- Sept 10: "He who wants to learn loyalty, sincerity, magnanimity and courage in support of religion... should follow in the footsteps of (the September 11 attackers)." (Al-Jazeera videotape)

- Oct 18: "We will go on fighting you and we will carry on martyrdom operations. We reserve the right to retaliate... against all countries that take part in this unjust (Iraqi) war, namely Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy." (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

2004

- Jan 4: "The occupation of Iraq is only a link in the chain of evil of the Zionists and crusaders." (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

- April 15: "I present a reconciliation initiative... to stop operations against all (European) countries if they promise not to be aggressive towards Muslims." (Al-Arabiya audiotape)

- Oct 29: Tells Americans that US president George W. Bush "is still misleading you." (Al-Jazeera videotape)

2006

- Jan 19: Threatens fresh attacks against the United States but offers American people a conditional "long-term truce." (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

- April 23: "I call upon the mujahedeen (holy warriors) and their supporters in Sudan and its surroundings... to prepare to lead a prolonged war against the crusader robbers in western Sudan." (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

- May 23: Says he masterminded the September 11 attacks and that convicted Frenchman Zacarias Moussaoui had no part in them. (Internet audiotape)

- Sept 7: Al-Jazeera broadcasts previously unseen footage it says shows bin Laden and Al-Qaeda suicide hijackers preparing for September 11 attacks.

2007

- Sept 7: Threatens to escalate war in Iraq (videotape).

- Sept 11: Praises 9/11 hijacker Walid al-Shehri. (audiotape)

- Sept 20: Urges Muslims to overthrow Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. (audiotape)

- Oct 22: Calls on Iraq insurgency leaders to unite against US-led coalition. (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

- Nov 29: Urges Europeans to end intervention in Afghanistan. (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

- Dec 29: Warns Muslims against supporting US-backed government in Iraq. (Internet audiotape)

2008

- March 20: Warns Europe of a "reckoning" after controversial cartoons of Prophet Mohammed published. (Internet audiotape)

- May 18: Urges Muslims to help lift Israel´s Gaza blockade. (Internet audiotape)

2009

Jan 14: Warns US president-elect Barack Obama of new fronts in his war against Western interests and calls for jihad to end Israel´s onslaught on Gaza. (Internet audiotape)

March 14: Accuses some Arab leaders of being "complicit" with Israel during Gaza offensive. (Al-Jazeera audiotape)

March 19: Urges radical Islamists in Somalia to overthrow new President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. (Internet audiotape)

June 3: Scorns Obama´s Middle East charm offensive and accuses him of "antagonising Muslims." (Internet audiotape)

Sept 13: Urges Americans to pressure White House to end Iraq, Afghanistan wars. (Internet video/audiotape)

Sept 25: Calls on European countries to end alliance with the United States and withdraw from Afghanistan. (Internet audiotape)

2010

Jan 24: Claims botched Christmas Day bombing of US airliner and threatens more strikes on US targets. (Al-Jazeera audiotape).

 source: myreplublica.com