New Bin Laden attack on EU over cartoons
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
An internet audio message from Osama bin Laden was released last night in which the al-Qaida leader threatened the EU over the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad two years ago, but did not address contemporary issues.
The five-minute message, played over a still image of Bin Laden holding an AK-47, was his first this year. Although apparently timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the message on a militant website appeared more closely linked to yesterday's anniversary of Muhammad's birth.
The cartoons were part of a crusade in which he said the Pope was involved. "Your publications of these drawings - part of a new crusade in which the Pope of the Vatican had a significant role - is a confirmation from you that the war continues," he said. "You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings," said a voice believed to be Bin Laden's.
Bin Laden also touched on the row over alleged kickbacks paid to Saudi officials as part of the multibillion dollar al-Yamamah deal with Britain. He said King Abdullah "ordered your legal institutions to stop their investigations into the embezzlement of the billions from the al-Yamamah deal and Blair carried this out and he is today your representative in the Quartet".
The cartoons were first published by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 but a furore erupted only after other papers reprinted them in 2006. At least 50 people were killed in the protests against the publication of the cartoons, which Muslims say are an affront to Islam.
Original article posted here.
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