Bin Laden hints at end of conflict
New audio message from Osama Bin Laden appears, hinting at end of war with US
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By Matt Fortune. |  |
Monday, 14, Sep 2009 01:30
By Matthew Champion.
An audio message purportedly from Osama Bin Laden has hinted at a possible end to the conflict between al-Qaida and the outside world.
Several Islamist websites carried the al-Qaida leader's message on Sunday, days after the US marked the eighth anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
The audio message played against a backdrop of an undated photograph of Bin Laden overlaid over a picture of the intact World Trade Centre before it was destroyed.
In it a voice claiming to be Bin Laden said al-Qaida could declare a ceasefire if the US pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
"If you stop the war, then fine," the voice said.
"Otherwise we will have no choice but to continue our war of attrition on every front... If you choose safety and stopping wars, as opinion polls show you do, then we are ready to respond to this."
But the voice claiming to be Bin Laden, in an 11-minute message, said Barack Obama was "powerless" to stop the wars, claiming the White House was ruled by figures from the Bush administration and pressure groups.
"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," he said.
"The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine."
The last audio message from Bin Laden, believed to be in hiding in mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan, was published in June.
The latest message could not be independently verified as from him.