World

Open Season On Americans

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 12, 1999 / 4:47 PM EST / CBS

The two bombs that went off minutes apart last August at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed more than 250 people, including 12 Americans.

Now the man U.S. authorities describe as the choreographer of that carnage warns that American civilians anywhere are still targets for Islamic fury, reports CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth.

"All Americans are our enemies. Not just the ones who fight us directly, but also the ones that pay their taxes," said Osama Bin Laden.

Bin Laden, America's most wanted man, was interviewed about two weeks ago at a desert hideout somewhere in Afghanistan. The U.S. government has a $5 million bounty on Bin Laden's head. He claims to be fighting a holy war.

"We have formed an Islamic front to continue the fight against the Jews and Christians. We hope that God will open the path to fight against them," Bin Laden said.

He has refused to admit direct involvement in the embassy bombings, but Bin Laden calls hostility toward the U.S. the religious duty of Moslems who want Americans out of Islamic countries.

That includes his own home, Saudi Arabia, where American officials believe he may have had a hand in deadly attacks on U.S. military installations in 1995 and 1996.

Now in exile in Afghanistan, Bin Laden operates under the protection and support of the Taliban, the armed extremists who control much of the country. So far, that's made him untouchable.

With a multi-million dollar fortune inherited from his father, U.S. officials say Bin Laden become the world's leading sponsor of terrorism.

As a senior State Department official put it, that makes Bin Laden a major worry for the administration - every single day.