In an audiotape aired by Arab satellite networks Thursday, a man who identified himself as al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden offered a "truce" to European states that do not attack Muslims, saying it would start when their soldiers leave Islamic nations.
"I declare a truce with the European countries that do not attack Islamic countries," the voice on the tapesaid.
The message said the truce would last three months and could be extended. However, the speaker indicated it would not commence right away: "The truce will start when the last soldier leaves our states," he said.
"They say that we kill for the sake of killing, but reality shows that they lie," the speaker said.
Russians, he said, were only killed after attacking Afghanistan in the 1980s and Chechnya, Europeans after invading Iraq and Afghanistan and the Americans in New York after "supporting the Jews in Palestine and their invasion of the Arabian Peninsula."
"Stop spilling our blood so we can stop spilling your blood," the voice added. "This is a difficult but easy equation."
The tape said the March 11 train bombings in Madrid that killed some 200 people were payment for Spain's actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and "Palestine".
"What happened on September 11 and March 11 are your goods returned to you so that you know security is a need for all," the voice on the tape said.
This truce, Bin Laden said, was to deny "the war mongers" further opportunities and because polls have shown that "most of the European peoples want reconciliation" with the Islamic world.
The message also vowed revenge for Israel's killing of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, leader of Hamas. "We vow before God to take revenge for him from America for this, God willing."
The message said that American policy ignores the "real problem," which is "the occupation of all of Palestine."
It denounced the U.S. actions in Iraq, saying it was making "billions of dollars" for firms, "whether those that make weapons or those that take part in reconstruction," naming the American firm Halliburton. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
