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U.S. State Department Website Posts Translation of Purported Bin Laden Letter
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Osama
bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden
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Report
by Khaled Mamdouh, IOL Staff
CAIRO, August 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – The U.S. State
Department posted to one of its websites a translation of a letter
purportedly written this month by Osama bin Laden. This indicates that
Washington may believe the document, which calls for a new holy war,
is authentic.
Upon
publishing the letter by IslamOnline, it hit the headlines in almost
all the news agencies and media networks worldwide, raising a big
question mark; why are the people so interested in anything related to
Bin Laden?
The
U.S. site, which offers threat assessments to U.S. companies doing
business abroad, does not say the letter is genuine but advertises a
link to the translation under the heading "new security incident
report" and asks readers to look at it, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP) Friday, August 30, 2002.
"The
attention of website readers is invited to a purported letter by Osama
bin Laden to the people of Afghanistan in late August 2002," says
the site, which is run by the department's Bureau of Diplomatic
Security.
A
password is required to access the actual translation of the
four-page, handwritten, Arabic-language letter. The letter was first
released Sunday, August 25, by the Qatar-based website www.IslamOnline.net.
IslamOnline
tried to find an answer for the question of “Bin Laden hysteria”.
A media professor in Cairo University, Dr. Mahmood Khalil, explained
the “Bin Laden phobia” in the media, as a part of the U.S.
military chase of the man.
“The
U.S. is mobilizing the whole world for its so-called war on terrorism.
Every one considers the Saudi dissident as the head of world
terrorism. The U.S. administration has turned Bin Laden into the
biggest symbol for anti-U.S. feelings all over the world. Americans
look at Sept 11 attacks as ghostly, with no specific enemy to hit back
at,” Khalil said.
“It’s
only natural for Bin Laden, or anything related to him, to grab the
headlines then,” he added.
For
his part, Dr. Hassan Ragab, professor at the American University in
Cairo, said that “the U.S. administration is keen on keeping Bin
Laden alive (theoretically) to use him as a justification for any
decision it finds OK with its interests”.
“Therefore,
it’s only natural to hear about such Bin Laden letters and tapes
every now and then, to keep the heat up and to keep people busy, while
the Bush administration carries out its own agenda worldwide,” Ragab
added.
The
two-page typewritten verbatim English translation was posted on the
State Department website (www.osac-ds.org) a day later as a
"special topic" of global interest.
A
State Department official said Friday that the posting of the
translation was not intended to imply that U.S. officials knew that
Bin Laden had written the letter.
"It's
something that is out there that we think people should be aware of
but we are not speaking to its authenticity," the official said.
In
the past, however, Washington was reluctant to publicize documents and
videotapes purported to come from Bin Laden.
U.S.
officials balked at such releases, even when the material supports
their contention that the Saudi dissident and his al-Qaeda network
were behind the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Only
after a public outcry did the Pentagon in December release a video it
obtained weeks earlier in which Bin Laden is seen boasting of the
attacks.
In
the undated letter posted to the website, the writer urges Afghans to
launch a new Jihad against U.S. troops now in Afghanistan and predicts
the fall of the United States.
IslamOnline
recived the document from its correspondent in Jalalabad, eastern
Afghanistan who got it from an Afghan source who asked to remain
anonymous.
Bin
Laden allegedly wrote the undated message "a few weeks ago as a
sign that he is still alive," it said.
The
last purported statement from Bin Laden was recorded months ago and
since then the militant has gone silent, giving rise to speculation
that he died either from illness or been killed in the U.S. bombing of
Afghanistan.
U.S.
officials said repeatedly that they do not know if Bin Laden is dead
or alive.
In the letter, Bin Laden allegedly wrote, "I am sending you this
message, I am your brother in religion and belief, Osama Bin Mohammed
Bin Awad Bin Laden. May the peace, grace and mercy of God be with you.
"This
letter is addressed to the proud, strong and valiant people (of
Afghanistan) who carried the sword in one hand and the Koran in the
other.
"Know,
you the lions of the Sharia, you the guardians of the religion that
God is almighty and said in his book: 'I promise all the believers and
the beneficent they will inherit the earth.'
"O
Afghan people, the value of jihad does not escape you and that is the
pinnacle of Islam and through jihad (Muslims) earn honor on earth as
in paradise."
"(Through
jihad) homelands are preserved, the sacred is safeguarded and justice
and security reign while fear invades the spirits of the enemy.
"O
Afghan people, in telling you these words, I am sure you will
understand all my remarks far more than the others because
Afghanistan, this country where no invader has managed to set foot
through the centuries, has a people who are strong, proud and patient
in the fight.
"This
country has opened its doors only to Islam and Muslims do not come as
settlers but as missionaries.
"O
Afghan people, God gave you the grace (too see) your jihad fulfill
your aspirations ... and now Britain, Russia and America have entered
the battlefield and they challenge the feelings of Muslims in the East
as in the West.”
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