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Some Scholars Dismiss Bin Laden Tape as Insufficient Evidence
CAIRO, Dec. 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The videotape the U.S. government considers strong evidence linking Osama bin Laden to the deadly September 11th attacks has been dismissed as "unreal" by many Arab and Muslim scholars.
Ahmad Rashidi, international law professor at Cairo University, told IslamOnline that with the technological and communication boom, and the advancement of editing and graphic technology, creating a tape like this is quite feasible and simple.
From a law perspective, a tape like this would not be sufficient evidence establishing bin Laden's involvement. It could be considered as contributing evidence, but not sole solid evidence, he said.
With regards to the timing of the tape's release, Rashidi said the U.S. chose it to convince the Islamic and Arab world that bin Laden is responsible, so that if he is killed, the secret dies with him and this tape remains as evidence against him.
"From a law point of view, a suspect is innocent till proven guilty through a fair trial which preserves all his rights to defend himself," said Rashidi.
The U.S. daily newspaper, the New York Times, Friday quoted Jordanian political analyst Labib Kamhawi saying that the quality of the tape is poor and that he is skeptical of the translation of the dialogue.
He added that language must not be taken out of its cultural context so that it could be understood properly.
Kamhawi added that the happiness, which bin Laden showed on the tape when speaking to his companions about the September 11 attacks, does not mean a thing. The same gladness was shown in many Arab and Muslim homes, he added.
Speaking to the BBC, Professor John Gibbon from the University of Sydney said that while there is synchronization between the lips and sound, there is no guarantee that the tape could not have been doctored.
"The tape is in a very bad quality so it is quite possible that it could have been fiddled with," he said. The second layer of problems is that because it is a very bad quality tape, in order to hear the actual words you would have to replay it several times and in several ways.
"Even with an Arabic speaker you need to do that," said Gibbon. "There are several electronic tricks that could improve audio and video quality."
He added that after checking the exact words spoken, they need to be taken in cultural context. "You need to know what exactly was meant. Many times people mean different things using the same words or even mean the same thing using different words."
Dia Rashwan, a researcher at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that it is easy to get a good video camera. He added that the quality of the images in the tape is really poor and that it is impossible that an American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent or an Afghani could have taped it.
He added that what is worth looking into is the fact that the camera took only one position throughout the videotape and only moved haphazardly, up and down, without zooming in or giving a close up of bin Laden.
Rashwan felt that the person on the tape (i.e. bin Laden), is not thin enough and that he is different from the frail person wearing a turban who appeared in other tapes distributed by al-Qaeda in the past, and shown on Al-Jazeera television.
Another expert said that the timing of airing the tape might be because the United States wants to expand its campaign to other countries, which Washington claims are linked to al-Qaeda.
Mohamad Al-Sayed Saeed, Deputy head of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told IslamOnline that the video did not prove that bin Laden is involved.
"As a political observer, I can see that he is involved with a 95 percent ratio, and that there is only five percent left for the judiciary systems to prove," said Saeed. He added that given bin Laden's outspoken animosity towards the United States and indications given in previous tapes which have been very "close" to a confession, that bin Laden is responsible for these incidents.
With regards to the skepticism among experts and public in the Arab and Muslim world with regards to the authenticity of the tape, Saeed feels that this is because of a psychological barrier between Arab public opinion and the United States.
"Muslims and Arabs alike are ready to discredit anything that comes from the United States," he said.
Emad Gad, an Egyptian political analyst, said that those who do not want to believe that bin Laden is the one who was behind it are going to focus on the poor quality of the tape. But practically speaking, he said, there is no doubt that bin Laden did it and that Egyptian Mohammad Atta was the mastermind of the airplane hijacking operations.
Muntazer Al-Zayat, chief attorney for the Islamic movement in Egypt, said that while no one can say for sure that the tape is authentic, he feels that bin Laden knew that he was being taped.
Al-Zayat said the tape does not provide proof that he is responsible, and does not provide the United States legitimacy for what it has done.
At the White House, U.S. President George W. Bush insisted that bin Laden's capture, "dead or alive" was inevitable. He criticized those who questioned the authenticity of the bin Laden videotape broadcast Thursday.
Bush said that it was "preposterous" for anyone "to think that this tape is doctored," which he described as "just a feeble excuse to provide weak support for an incredibly evil man."
Bush said the tape provided "devastating" proof that bin Laden masterminded the September 11 attacks.
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