|
Bin Laden threatens attacks, offers truce
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-20 06:47
Al-Jazeera on Thursday aired an audiotape from Osama bin Laden, who says al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offers a truce on "fair" but undefined conditions. The CIA has authenticated the voice on the tape as that of bin Laden, an agency official said.
Exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden is seen in this April 1998 file photo in Afghanistan.[AP] |
The tape's release came days after a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan that was targeting bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, and reportedly killed four leading al-Qaida figures, including possibly al-Zawahri's son-in-law. There was no mention of the attack on the segments that were broadcast.
It was the first tape from the al-Qaida leader in more than a year — the longest period without a message since the Sept. 11 2001 suicide hijackings in the United States.
The al-Qaida leader is believed to be hiding in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Al-Jazeera said the tape was recorded in the Islamic month that corresponds with December.
Bin Laden refers to an alleged comment by US President Bush about bombing the Qatar headquarters of Al-Jazeera, which was first reported in the British press on Nov. 22.
He also refers indirectly to the July 7 bombings in London that killed 56 people and to poll numbers that showed a fall in Bush's popularity, as occurred in late 2005.
U.S. counterterror officials said Thursday they have seen no specific or credible intelligence to indicate an upcoming al-Qaida attack on the country.
The United States will not let up in the war on terror despite the threats on the tape, said White House press secretary Scott McClellan. "We do not negotiate with terrorists," McClellan said. "We put them out of business."
While warning against downplaying the taped threat, officials at intelligence and law enforcement agencies said there has been no recent increase in "chatter" that can indicate that such an attack is imminent.
|
