Bin Laden accuses West of "loathing Islam" in recorded message
( 2001-12-27 10:18 ) (7 )

Chief terror suspect Osama bin Laden accused the West of "loathing Islam" in a new video message broadcast on Wednesday by the Qatari-based satellite television Al-Jazeera.

Bin Laden said he wanted to review "the fierce crusade against Islam, two months after it was launched," hinting that the tape was recorded around December 7. The US military operation in Afghanistan began on October 7.

"The latest events have proved important truths. It has become clear that the West in general and America in particular have an unspeakable hatred for Islam," said bin Laden, who appeared on the recording in his combat clothes, with his Kalashnikov assault rifle propped up beside him.

"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," said Bin Laden, who spoke calmly, in his first message aired by Al-Jazeera since November 3.

"Those who lived under continuous US raids for the past months are aware of it. How many villages have been destroyed and how many millions (of people) have been pushed out in the freezing cold?", asked the Saudi-born millionaire, wanted by the United States chiefly for his suspected role in the September 11 airborne onslaught on New York and Washington which killed thousands.

"These men, women and children have been damned and who now live under tents in Pakistan, have committed no sin," he added.

"We have witnessed the true crimes of those who call themselves humanists and claim to be defenders of freedom," said the most wanted man in the world.

He said that "only seven grammes of explosives are needed to kill someone, but the United States have used bombs weighing seven million grammes" in their raids on Afghanistan, "proving their hatred of the Taliban and Muslims."

The full 30-minute version of the tape will be aired by Al-Jazeera Thursday at 1830 GMT, the satellite network said.

Bin Laden's whereabouts have officially been unknown for weeks. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has almost ruled out that the suspected mastermind of the terror attacks against the United States could have crossed the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan.

Musharraf said three days ago that bin Laden was probably dead following the intensive US raids on the Al-Qaeda leader's suspected hideout in the mountainous region of Tora Bora.

The next day, the spokesman for the US-led coalition Kenton Keith expressed a similar opinion.

The United States have put a 25-million-dollar prize on bin Laden's head.

In his previous recorded message broadcast nearly eight weeks ago, the terror suspect had also launched a diatribe against the United Nations and Arab leaders.

"Those who want to solve our problems at the United Nations are hypocrites who (try to) deceive God, His prophet and believers, because our suffering is caused by the UN."

"Those who claim to be Arab leaders and whose countries are UN members are infidels who renounced the Koran and the Prophet's (Mohammad's) teachings when they resorted to international legitimacy instead of resorting to the Koran," bin Laden had said in what was his second such address, following a message aired by Al-Jazeera on October 7.