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Bin Laden attacks Obama over Swat
Source: Agencies |
June 4, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
OSAMA bin Laden threatened Americans in a new audio tape yesterday, saying President Barack Obama inflamed hatred toward the United States by ordering Pakistan to crack down on militants in Swat Valley and block Islamic law there.
Bin Laden claimed US pressure led to a campaign of "killing, fighting, bombing and destruction" that prompted the exodus of millions of Muslims from Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan.
The message was broadcast for the first time on pan-Arab Al-Jazeera Television around the same time Obama touched down in Saudi Arabia at the start of a Mideast visit. He is trying repair relations with the Muslim world frayed under the Bush administration.
"Elderly people, children and women fled their homes and lived in tents as refugees after they have lived in dignity in their homes," bin Laden said. "Let the American people be ready to reap what the White House leaders have sown," he added.
"Obama and his administration have sown new seeds to increase hatred and revenge on America," bin Laden said. "The number of these seeds is equal to the number of displaced people from Swat Valley."
Pakistan's military offensive to expel the Taliban from Swat Valley was launched in late April after the militants abandoned a peace deal with the government that gave them control of the region.
Pakistanis tired of militant attacks in the country that have killed hundreds of civilians have supported the campaign. But the fighting has uprooted around 3 million people.
Bin Laden focused entirely on Pakistan, claiming President Asif Ali Zardari was paid by the White House to start the crackdown.
But Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said al-Qaida and the Taliban were responsible for the refugee crisis.
"This entire problem began with al-Qaida and its associates and everybody in the world knows that," he said.
Al-Jazeera aired excerpts of the tape and did not say how it was obtained. The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately verified.
Bin Laden claimed US pressure led to a campaign of "killing, fighting, bombing and destruction" that prompted the exodus of millions of Muslims from Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan.
The message was broadcast for the first time on pan-Arab Al-Jazeera Television around the same time Obama touched down in Saudi Arabia at the start of a Mideast visit. He is trying repair relations with the Muslim world frayed under the Bush administration.
"Elderly people, children and women fled their homes and lived in tents as refugees after they have lived in dignity in their homes," bin Laden said. "Let the American people be ready to reap what the White House leaders have sown," he added.
"Obama and his administration have sown new seeds to increase hatred and revenge on America," bin Laden said. "The number of these seeds is equal to the number of displaced people from Swat Valley."
Pakistan's military offensive to expel the Taliban from Swat Valley was launched in late April after the militants abandoned a peace deal with the government that gave them control of the region.
Pakistanis tired of militant attacks in the country that have killed hundreds of civilians have supported the campaign. But the fighting has uprooted around 3 million people.
Bin Laden focused entirely on Pakistan, claiming President Asif Ali Zardari was paid by the White House to start the crackdown.
But Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said al-Qaida and the Taliban were responsible for the refugee crisis.
"This entire problem began with al-Qaida and its associates and everybody in the world knows that," he said.
Al-Jazeera aired excerpts of the tape and did not say how it was obtained. The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately verified.
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