Bin Laden aide calls for further suicide attacks
Arabic television station al-Jazeera has broadcast a tape allegedly from Osama bin Laden’s closest aide in which he calls on Muslims to carry out more suicide attacks.
A man identified as Ayman al-Zawahiri, known as the al Qaeda leader’s second in command, states: ‘The crusaders and the Jews only understand the language of murder.’
‘Carry arms against your enemies, the Americans, the Jews.’
Al-Jazeera says that it is unclear when the tape was recorded. Egyptian-born Al-Zawahri founded a militant group that tried to overthrow the Egyptian government in the 1990s. His wife and children are believed to have died during the allied attacks on Afghanistan in 2001.
Al-Qaeda has been blamed for the recent suicide attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, which killed 75 people, and security forces believe further attacks are likely.
The voice on the tape calls on followers to mount attacks British and American embassies and commercial interests and also mentions Australia and Norway, which both supported the conflict in Iraq.
‘Set the ground ablaze under their feet…kick these criminals out of your homelands,’ he urged.
The US and UK have already closed diplomatic offices in Saudi Arabia and the Bush administration has raised the security alert for America from yellow to orange – the second highest level.
Announcing the changes to the homeland security alert Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson said: ‘This change is based upon the recent terrorist bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, also in conjunction with intelligence reports concerning anti-US terrorist groups’ intentions.
‘The United States’ intelligence community believes that terrorists continue to plan attacks against targets in the United States, and for this reason the alert level has been raised.’
The voice on the tape broadcast today also lashes out at Arab governments that supported the invasion of Iraq and calls on Muslims to force Westerners from ‘the land of Islam’ by ’emulating the September 11 suicide hijackings in the US.’
