Bin Laden: Pope Leading Anti-Islam Crusade

In New Audiotape, Al Qaeda Leader Threatens Severe Reaction Against Europe

(AP)  Osama bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a "new Crusade" against Islam and warned of a "severe" reaction to European publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that insulted many Muslims.

Bin Laden's new audiotape message raised concerns al Qaeda was plotting new attacks in Europe. Some experts said bin Laden, believed to be in hiding in the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border area, may be unable to organize an attack himself and instead is trying to fan anger and inspire his supporters to violence.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said bin Laden's accusation that the pope has played a role in a worldwide campaign against Islam is "baseless." Lombardi said the pope on several occasions has criticized the cartoons, first published in several European newspapers in 2006 and republished by Danish papers in February.

The pope angered many in the Muslim world in 2006, when he cited a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."

The pope later said he was "deeply sorry" and stressed the remarks did not reflect his own opinions. He has since led a public campaign for dialogue with Muslims.

Bin Laden's audiotape was posted late Wednesday on a militant Web site that has carried al Qaeda statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing Al-Sahab.

"The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God," said a voice believed to be bin Laden's, without specifying what action would be taken.

He said the cartoons "came in the framework of a new Crusade in which the Pope of the Vatican has played a large, lengthy role," according to a transcript released by the SITE Institute, a U.S. group that monitors terror messages.

"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," he said. "This is the greater and more serious tragedy, and reckoning for it will be more severe."

The five-minute message, bin Laden's first this year, came as the Muslim world marks the Prophet Muhammad's birthday on Thursday. It made no mention of the fifth anniversary Wednesday of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.

A U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington said "CIA analysis assesses with a high degree of confidence it is Osama bin Laden's voice on the tape" and that there was "no reason to doubt bin Laden is alive."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the intelligence matters involved.

On Feb. 13, Danish newspapers republished one of the cartoons, which shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, to illustrate their commitment to freedom of speech after police said they had uncovered the beginnings of a plot to kill the artist.

Muslims widely saw the cartoons as an insult, depicting the prophet as violent. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

The original 12 cartoons, first published in a Danish newspaper and then in several papers across Europe, triggered major protests in Muslim countries in 2006.

There have been renewed protests in the last month, though not as large or widespread. A few dozen university students waved banners and chanted slogans against Denmark on Thursday in Islamabad. The students said they had not seen the bin Laden message.

Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors militant messages, called Wednesday's message a "clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack."

Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general and security analyst, said bin Laden was likely too isolated to organize an attack. But the al Qaeda leader may be hoping to use anger over the cartoons to inspire violence, he said.

"Even if he has not got the capacity (to launch an attack), he will try to infuse hatred," Masood said.

Denmark's intelligence agency said Thursday that bin Laden's warnings "don't immediately give reason to change" its assessment of the threat level against the country.

Last week, the intelligence agency had warned that reprinting the cartoon had brought "negative attention" to Denmark and may have increased the risk to Danes at home and abroad.

[robertkjjj]

I fully support the US(and whoever wants to help) bombing the Jihadists(and any Muslims that support them) back to the stone age. I say we use every freekin bomb in our arsenal on Pakistan and wherever else these vermin are hiding.
www.thereligionofpeace.com
Islam is a cult. Islam equals death.
Stop Islam before it kills you and your family.

[taylor2124]

So nice to see the major league as*shole Prinzowhales is on here again, posting his Muslim-apologist, terrorist-supporting diatribes. What a lying piece of dogsh*t scumbag you are, sir.

[beehive21-2009]

The Muslims are there own worst enemy, showing the world daily what lowlife they are, through deeds that are not human,programmed robots,trained to kill at the drop of a hat.All in the name of a fairy tale,passed on from generation to generation,programmed for killing for centuries.Robots preprogrammed for life ,poor things.

[smilingez50]

Islam''s worst enemy is Bin Laden.

[smilingez50]

Let the Crusades begin. It''s Islam hunting days. Let''s finish the job this time.

[prinzowhales]

Posted by Gaye5 at 07:57 PM : Mar 21, 2008
------------------
The Crusaders certainly did murder Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church...and, there was the Crusade against the Albigensian ''heretics''...and it is, indeed, a "lust for power" that you will find lurking behind all off the religion-inspired madness of the world yesterday and today.

[hoopersports]

I think Bin-Laden should show his face and fight like a real man! If he wants to be a real solider, come out of your little hiding place and fight the U.S. yourself, we will wipe the floor with you.

[gaye5]

Prinzowhales, you are so right, and Jesus hated the religious, and todays churches are just that again.
While throughout history people have misused the name of God to carry out their own selfish plans (as we still see today), true religious belief has been the driving force for the greatest cultural achievements.
Many great slaughters have occurred in history. To try to ascribe some correlation between the leaders of various christian religious belief systems is highly flawed. Selectively citing history has the same flavor to it as pulling specific quotes out of the Bible (or Koran, for that matter...). Individual events do not occur in a vacuum, and *must* be considered in context with what went on before, after and simultaneously elsewhere in the world. Crusaders quite happily sacked and burned christian cities and towns as well. I believe one must remember the driving force behind most of those acts was not religion, but rather the lust for power and wealth as is most conflicts.
Most of the discussion I have seen have completely passed over the imbuild culture and tribalism as a source for much of the conflict we see.

[candide777]

Imagine there''s no Heaven
It''s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there''s no countries
It isn''t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

- John Lennon

[prinzowhales]

sociallyjust--Unfortunately, in all of these religious groups there are destructive elements that have great influence over the masses of the faithful...the Wahabis...the Evangelicals who circle like flies around the Robertson pile...the madmen behind the Likud and religious parties in Israel...

As I see it, things begin to go wrong when religions are enlisted into the service of the secular to preserve the status quo. Opus Dei and the like, for instance, are much more interested in oppressing the People and preserving the Oligarchy than in spreading the teachings of Yeshua....There is always some kind of priestly extortions and rules that serve the economic and political interests of the Establishment...as noted by you in the third paragraph of your response to ''Gaye5''.