Osama Calls for War Against Crusaders
Jim Kouri, CPP
April 23, 2006
Al-Qaeda's top leader Osama bin Laden discussed the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Sudan's Darfur crisis during an audio-taped speech aired by the Middle East's al-Jazeera TV channel on Sunday. But the CIA has not yet verified the authenticity of the tape.
Bin Laden told the Arab world that the West's decision to cut funding to the Hamas-led government was proof it was at war with Islam. For this first time bin Laden discussed the civil unrest in Sudan's Darfur crisis and said the crisis resulted from the Zionist-Christian "crusader war."
He urged his followers to take up arms in Sudan and fight the UN peacekeepers being deployed to stop the killing of Christians by Muslims.
He said the Western public share responsibility for their countries' war against Islam, claiming "the war goes on and the people are renewing their allegiance to their rulers and masters."
"They send their sons to armies to fight us and they continue their financial and moral support while our countries are burned and our houses bombed and our people killed," he said.
The Saudi-born militant appeared in an audio tape in December 2004, in which he appointed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man, as Al-Qaeda's leader in the country.
Bin Laden specifically names Israel and the United States as enemies of Islam, but he does use the term "West" throughout his impassioned call to arms.
"I call on Mujahedin and their supporters, especially in Sudan and the Arab peninsula, to prepare for long war again the crusader plunderers in Western Sudan. Our goal is not defending the Khartoum government but to defend Islam, its land and its people," he said.
The voice on the tape sounded strong and appeared the same one as on other recordings attributed to bin Laden.
"I urge holy warriors to be acquainted with the land and the tribes in Darfur. They should know the rainy season approaches and that will hamper their movement," he said.
The fighting in Darfur began when rebels from black African tribes took up arms in February 2003, complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan's Arab-dominated government. The government is accused of unleashing Arab tribal militia known as the Janjaweed against civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson.
At least 180,000 people have died -- many from hunger and disease -- and 2 million people have been displaced in the vast, arid region of western Sudan, according to Israel's Haaretz.
The US and other Western countries are urging the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force to the war-torn region.
Bin Laden told the Arab world that the West's decision to cut funding to the Hamas-led government was proof it was at war with Islam. For this first time bin Laden discussed the civil unrest in Sudan's Darfur crisis and said the crisis resulted from the Zionist-Christian "crusader war."
He urged his followers to take up arms in Sudan and fight the UN peacekeepers being deployed to stop the killing of Christians by Muslims.
He said the Western public share responsibility for their countries' war against Islam, claiming "the war goes on and the people are renewing their allegiance to their rulers and masters."
"They send their sons to armies to fight us and they continue their financial and moral support while our countries are burned and our houses bombed and our people killed," he said.
The Saudi-born militant appeared in an audio tape in December 2004, in which he appointed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man, as Al-Qaeda's leader in the country.
Bin Laden specifically names Israel and the United States as enemies of Islam, but he does use the term "West" throughout his impassioned call to arms.
"I call on Mujahedin and their supporters, especially in Sudan and the Arab peninsula, to prepare for long war again the crusader plunderers in Western Sudan. Our goal is not defending the Khartoum government but to defend Islam, its land and its people," he said.
The voice on the tape sounded strong and appeared the same one as on other recordings attributed to bin Laden.
"I urge holy warriors to be acquainted with the land and the tribes in Darfur. They should know the rainy season approaches and that will hamper their movement," he said.
The fighting in Darfur began when rebels from black African tribes took up arms in February 2003, complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan's Arab-dominated government. The government is accused of unleashing Arab tribal militia known as the Janjaweed against civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson.
At least 180,000 people have died -- many from hunger and disease -- and 2 million people have been displaced in the vast, arid region of western Sudan, according to Israel's Haaretz.
The US and other Western countries are urging the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force to the war-torn region.
Print
Email
