Rodney King where are you when we need you?
Bin Laden Accuses The Pope Of Leading Anti-Islam Crusade; Vatican Denies It
3/20/2008 12:30:22 PM An audiotape message attributed to Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden has accused Pope Benedict XVI of inciting a new crusade against Islam. The message, posted late Wednesday on a militant Web site, called the publication of cartoons, seen by Muslims as insulting Prophet Muhammad, part of the “crusade,” and warned of a severe reaction for Europeans.
The message, which was released on the fifth anniversary of U.S. invasion of Iraq, raised concerns that Al-Qaeda was plotting new attacks in Europe in a week that inspires high religious fervor for Muslims as well as Christians.
However, the Vatican reacted immediately to the reported accusations. A spokesman for the Vatican, Rev. Federico Lombardi dismissed Bin Laden's accusation that Pope Benedict XVI has played a role in a worldwide campaign against Islam as “baseless.”
According to a transcript of the remarks released by U.S. groups that monitors terrorist activities on the web, Bin Laden called the cartoons “a test of devotion for Muslims” and said they were even more offensive than war-related killings.
The cartoons were first published in European newspapers in 2006, sparking protests and rioting in may Muslim nations. They were republished last month in a Danish newspaper in a bid to “defend freedom of speech” after a plot to murder the cartoonist was discovered.
The Al-Qaeda leader, believed to be in hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border area, also denounced U.S. involvement in Iraq and said it had only increased the terrorist group's determination.
Although the five-minute message is the first of Bin Laden to have been released this year, it appeared to have been recorded in December because he refers to revelations made that month by the British press, the AP reported. |
