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CNN to Interview Bin Laden Through Al-Jazeera
WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (News Agencies) - CNN international announced Wednesday that someone claiming to represent al-Qaeda asked the Qatari-based al-Jazeera satellite television channel and CNN to submit written questions to Osama bin Laden, questions they say bin Laden will answer on videotape and send back to al-Jazeera.
"This proposal came in to al-Jazeera, which then notified CNN," said CNN.
However on its website, CNN clarified to its audience that it has no information about where bin Laden is, or whether he is alive or dead.
"We do not know how al-Qaeda communicates with al-Jazeera, or how al-Jazeera plans to get the questions to bin Laden.
"We agree to no prohibitions or preconditions from Osama bin Laden's organization or from the al-Jazeera television channel.
"By submitting our questions, we are making no commitment to air bin Laden's response. We will look at the tape, if there is a tape, and decide how much or how little to run. If we believe his comments are not newsworthy, we will not run any of them.
"We claim no exclusivity over this tape, and we will allow other news organizations to make their own judgments on how to use bin Laden's answers," said CNN.
The six questions submitted to al-Jazeera by CNN were:
1. Your spokesman has praised the September 11th terrorist attacks that killed thousands of innocent people and threatened to carry out more attacks involving planes and tall buildings. How can you and your followers advocate the killing of innocent people?
2. What was your role, and the role of the al-Qaeda organization, in the September 11th attacks?
3. What was your role, and the role of your organization, in the subsequent anthrax attacks in the United States?
4. Did any of the September 11th hijackers, or their accomplices, receive al-Qaeda financial support, or training at al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan, and was any other government or organization involved?
5. In the past, you called on your followers to acquire weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Do you or your followers have any such weapons and, if so, will those weapons be used?
6. The vast majority of Muslim and Arab leaders, including Muslim clerics and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, say there is no justification in Islam for the terrorist attacks you advocate. They have denounced you, your followers, and your self-declared holy war. How do you respond to their criticism?
Last week, the five major U.S. television networks, including CNN, said they would limit their coverage of bin Laden 's videos after a conference call with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, said the
U.K. daily, The Guardian.
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