Bin Laden: ”We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the (Jordan) river to the sea”
December 29, 2007 5:32 pm Bin Laden StatementsBin Laden Discusses Iraq and Israel, AP, New York Times, December 29, 2007
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Osama bin Laden warned Iraq’s Sunni Arabs against fighting al-Qaida and vowed to expand the terror group’s holy war to Israel in a new audiotape Saturday, threatening ”blood for blood, destruction for destruction.”
Most of the 56-minute tape dealt with Iraq, apparently al-Qaida’s latest attempt to keep supporters in Iraq unified at a time when the U.S. military claims to have al-Qaida’s Iraq branch on the run.
The tape did not mention Pakistan or the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, though Pakistan’s government has blamed al-Qaida and the Taliban for her death on Thursday.
But bin Laden’s comments offered an unusually direct attack on Israel, which has warned of growing al-Qaida activity in Palestinian territory. The terror network is not believed to have taken a strong role there so far.
”We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the (Jordan) river to the sea,” he said, threatening ”blood for blood, destruction for destruction.”
”We will not recognize even one inch for Jews in the land of Palestine as other Muslim leaders have,” bin Laden said.
In Iraq, a number of Sunni Arab tribes in western Anbar province have formed a coalition fighting al-Qaida-linked insurgents that U.S. officials credit for deeply reducing violence in the province. The U.S. military has been working to form similar ”Awakening Councils” in other areas of Iraq.