Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility For Danish Embassy Bombing

Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the June 2nd attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad and said it was a suicide operation carried out in retaliation for the cartoons mocking Prophet Mohammed published by a Danish paper.

"This operation is just a warning for this apostate state in order for them to refrain from mocking our prophet and apologize for what they did, and if they don't this will only be the beginning," said the statement, which was signed by al Qaeda's top official in Afghanistan Mustafa Abul Yazid and dated June 3rd. Abul Yazid also hailed the cooperation by Pakistani militants, who he claimed helped prepare for the operation.

The statement also noted the attack was also to fulfill al Qaeda leader's promise to respond to the publishing of the cartoon. Bin Laden had addressed the issue in an audiotape released last March. "The response is what you see, not what you hear, and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our prophet," he said in the March statement.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified, but it was posted on a popular militant Islamist website often used by al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.