Bin Laden: West ‘proves’ it is at war with Islam

U.S.: Bin Laden surrounded by Arabs
In Washington, U.S. intelligence officials said bin Laden is separated from his top deputy and, in a sign he has to be careful about whom he trusts, surrounded by fellow Arabs.

His No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, is hiding in a more settled area along the border, also surrounded by al-Qaida operatives from Egypt, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

A three-year conflict between Darfur’s rebels and the Arab-dominated central government has caused about 180,000 deaths — most from disease and hunger — and displaced 2 million people.

The United Nations has described the conflict as the world’s gravest humanitarian crisis. The United States has described it as genocide.

Peace deal by month's end?
Negotiators are trying to broker a peace deal between warring factions by an April 30 deadline. Members of the African Union have agreed in principle to hand over peacekeeping duties to the United Nations beginning Sept. 30.

“I call on mujahedeen and their supporters, especially in Sudan and the Arab peninsula, to prepare for long war again the crusader plunderers in Western Sudan. Our goal is not defending the Khartoum government but to defend Islam, its land and its people,” bin Laden purportedly said.

“I urge holy warriors to be acquainted with the land and the tribes in Darfur.”

Al-Qaida has targeted Western forces in Africa before — including its attacks against U.S. troops trying to bring peace to Somalia in 1993.

Al-Jazeera apparently had the tape long enough to make significant edits, with its news reader providing substantial transition and background comments between excerpts from bin Laden.

Last tape offered truce
It was the first purported new message from bin Laden since Jan. 19. In that audiotape, he warned that his fighters were preparing new attacks in the United States but offered the American people a “long-term truce” without specifying the conditions.

That tape was posted in full on a Web site a month later and included a vow by the terrorist chieftain never to be captured alive.

“I have sworn to only live free. Even if I find bitter the taste of death, I don’t want to die humiliated or deceived,” bin Laden said in that previous 11-minute, 26-second tape.

In the message broadcast Sunday, bin Laden also called for a global Muslim boycott of American goods similar to the recent boycott of Danish products, after publication there of caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.

He also said the artists who drew those offending cartoons should be handed over to him for trial and punishment.

The Al-Jazeera news reader said bin Laden, in a portion of the tape not aired by the Qatar-based broadcaster, scoffed at Saudi King Abdullah for his calls for a “dialogue among civilizations” and blasted liberal-minded Arab writers for taking part in the Western cultural invasion of Muslim lands.

MORE FROM TERRORISM

Terrorism Section Front

White House: No flu shots for Gitmo detainees Feds: Chicago men discussed India attack Ex-Guantanamo detainees begin new lives in Palau Terrorism Section Front   Add Terrorism headlines to your news reader: