First Bin Laden video in three years
The Al Qaeda leader issues new threats, warning Americans to reject 'interests of the major corporations,' or face escalating attacks from his followers. A U.S. official says the tape seems authentic.
washington--In his first videotaped message in nearly three years, Osama bin Laden told the American people to reject their capitalist way of life and embrace Islam, or his followers will "escalate the killing and fighting against you."
"This is our duty, and our brothers are carrying it out, and I ask Allah to grant them resolve and victory," Bin Laden said in a 26-minute tape, titled, "The Solution." The tape, which today aired widely on the Internet and TV, apparently was made to be released in concurrence with the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
In sometimes rambling language, the founder and leader of Al Qaeda urged Americans to reject being controlled by major corporations, contending that their quest for oil and profits is the cause of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the suffering of millions of Muslims and dispossessed peoples around the world.
"It has now become clear to you and the entire world the impotence of the democratic system and how it plays with the interests of the peoples and their blood by sacrificing soldiers and populations to achieve the interests of the major corporations," Bin Laden said, according to a transcript of the tape by provided the SITE Institute, a non-profit organization that tracks terrorist networks. "And with that, it has become clear to all that they are the real tyrannical terrorists."
Bin Laden appears to be healthy and well-rested in the videotape, which is being scrutinized by U.S. government intelligence analysts.
One senior U.S. counter-terrorism official said an initial review of the tape suggests that it is an authentic Al Qaeda communiqué issued by the terror network's media arm, known as Al Sahab. The official said the tape apparently was made very recently, based on some of the comments made by Bin Laden and other factors he would not disclose. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he has not been authorized to speak on the record about it.
If the tape is confirmed as authentic, it would be the Al Qaeda leader's first videotaped communiqué since late October 2004, when he surfaced just before the American presidential election.
The senior U.S. counter-terrorism official said the tape provides strong evidence that Bin Laden is still alive, even though Al Sahab has been known in the past to artfully splice historic footage of the Al Qaeda leader into current videos.
