Osama bin Laden’s latest audiotape
has been professionally prepared by the previously unknown
As-Sahab Media and is in Arabic language with English and
German translations.
The CD, containing bin Laden’s
voice message, was delivered to the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya
television channel and the Al-Jazeera, headquartered in
Doha, Qatar. Both are popular Arabic language television
channels. Copies were also sent to certain other media
organisations.
The familiar face of bin
Laden, with his greying beard, has been pasted on top
corner of the CD. His full name, Osama bin Mohammad bin
Laden, is written in bold letters nearby. The message
begins with the name of Allah and, as usual, bin Laden
praises God Almighty at the beginning of some of his sentences.
The English translation of his message is particularly
impressive. There is no doubt it is a professionally done
job.
The tired-sounding bin Laden’s
voice appears authentic. The last we heard of him was
in January when he mentioned Saddam Hussein’s arrest
by US troops in December and urged Muslims to fight the
American forces in Iraq.
"It is a message to
our neighbours north of the Mediterranean," says
the voice on the tape. It adds that it "includes
a proposal for an agreement in response to the positive
signals that have emanated from them."
The tape contains a lot more
than that reported by Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera. The portion
of bin Laden’s message carried by the Western and
other media is even lesser.
For example, bin Laden lambasts
President George W Bush by referring to him as a liar
and to his team of advisers as the White House gang. There
are references to major corporations such as Halliburton,
US Vice President Dick Cheney’s former firm, that
are accused of earning billions of dollars by manufacturing
arms and bagging contracts for reconstruction of Iraq.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is described as the
ripper of pregnant women’s bellies in Sabra and
Shatilla, the refugee camps of the Palestinian in Lebanon.
President Bush once more is ridiculed for referring to
Sharon as a "man of peace."
In keeping with his style,
bin Laden uses colourful language and puts forward arguments
in support of his cause. Having a sense of history, he
reminds his listeners that the "killing of the Russians
began after their invasion of Afghanistan and Chechnya."
He argues that killing of the Europeans began after their
invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Continuing with his
argument, bin Laden explained: "And for the Americans,
the killing started after their support for the Jews in
Palestine and invasion of the Arabian Peninsula. And in
Somalia, killing of them began after their invasion of
the country in "Operation Restore Hope," but
we sent them home without hope."
On occasions, bin Laden turns
philosophical in his taped message. Here are some samples
as the Saudi-born bin Laden addresses the Europeans: "I
remind you all that fairness and equity is compulsory
with both - he whom you like and he whom you dislike,
that the truth is truth even if spoken by your enemy,
and that the greatest foundation of security is justice
and refraining from aggression and oppression."
There is more of it in the
next statement: "We inform you that your description
of us and our actions as "terrorist" is of necessity
a description of you and your action as well inasmuch
as it is known that the reaction is of the same type as
the action. And our actions are a response to your actions:
namely the destruction and killing of our people as is
occurring in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine."
An attempt is also made by
bin Laden to put the blame for the suffering of the world
on Western politicians. This is how he puts his case before
his Western audiences: "A look at the killing that
has occurred and continues to occur in our lands and your
lands reveals an important fact. That oppression is being
perpetrated upon both, us and you, by your politicians,
who despite your opposition send your sons to our countries
to kill and be killed. Thus, it is in the interest of
both parties to pull the rug out from under those who
are spilling the people’s blood for their own limited
personal interests and because of their allegiance to
the White House gang."
Criticising the UN, the international
media and the Zionist lobby, bin Laden argues: "President
Bush and those leaders who orbit around him ...the UN
that defines the relationship between the masters of the
veto and the slaves of the General Assembly....the giant
media conglomerates; these are only some of the tools
they use to deceive and exploit the peoples. All of these
combined, along with the Zionist lobby that counts as
one of the most difficult and dangerous of their ranks,
represent the deadly threat faced by the entire world."
The world’s most wanted
man also poses a few questions to the Western rulers and
people. "Which religion is it that states that those
of you who are killed are innocent while those of us who
are killed are worthless? And according to which school
of thought does your blood equals blood while our blood
is like water?"
In conclusion, bin Laden
gives bit of advice after offering truce to Europeans
if they pulled troops out of Muslim nations. This is how
he concludes his generally reconciliatory message: "As
it is said, ‘Prevention is better than cure,’
‘Happy is he who learns from the mistakes of the
past,’ and ‘Better to return to the truth
than to continue in error."
