The Fraud Marches On

Alleged Bin Laden tape released

6/30/2006 12:15:00 PM GMT

A new audiotape purportedly from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been posted on a Web site on Friday, BBC reported.

The speaker on the tape praised Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the alleged al-Qaeda leader killed in a U.S. air strike in Iraq three weeks ago, as the "lion of holy war".

He also defended Zarqawi against critics who attacked him for killing Iraq’s Shia civilians, saying that he had “clear instructions to concentrate his fight on the occupying invaders, chiefly the Americans, and to leave aside anyone who remains neutral."

Addressing the U.S. President George W. Bush, the speaker said that Washington shouldn’t be “too happy” about Zarqawi's death, "for the banner [of al-Qaeda in Iraq] hasn't dropped but has passed from one lion of Islam to another lion".

He also vowed that al-Qaeda will continue its operations against the U.S. and its allies. "We will continue, God willing, to fight you and your allies everywhere," he said, "in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Somalia and Sudan until we waste all your money and kill your men."

President Bush had praised Zarqawi's death as a "severe blow to al-Qaeda" and a victory in the "war on terror".

Last week, the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, purportedly vowed in a videotape to avenge Zarqawi’s death, telling President Bush: "Try in vain to dream of security."

* "Return Zarqawi's remains"

In Friday’s 20-minute tape, the speaker demanded President Bush to return Zarqawi's remains to his family and said Jordan's King Abdullah II should allow his repatriation.

"I tell your agent in Jordan: enough tyranny. You prevented Abu Musab from returning home when he was alive. Don't stop him doing so now," he said.

He also slammed the U.S. for "ignoring demonstrations rejecting the shedding of blood in Iraq in order to seize the black gold (oil)," a clear reference to worldwide protests against the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The United States "treated presidents like slaves," the voice said, slamming "the magnitude of torture inflicted on (Sunni) Muslims in Iraqi prisons."

The authenticity of Friday’s tape couldn’t be authenticated.

Many experts suggest that most of the tapes and videos allegedly linked to al-Qaeda network or any of its leaders are fake.

Professor Bruce Lawrence, head of Duke University’s religious studies department, who recently published a book of translations of Bin Laden’s speeches, said that the recent audiotapes attributed to al-Qaeda leaders are fake, suggesting that Bin Laden isn’t alive.

Fabricated Bin Laden tapes, often “verified” by the CIA, are nothing new, according to Dr. Kevin Barrett who holds a Ph.D. in Arabic, with a focus on Islamic studies, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Barrett says that the last authentic statement that Bin Laden issued was his post-9/11 comments to Pakistani journalists: “I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation. … I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States. … I had no knowledge of these attacks.”

Original article posted here.