Bin Laden Says Us Should Convert To Islam

[Mehtab Singh]

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.php?rurl=h...eyword=bbc_home

A new video tape purportedly made by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has urged the American people to embrace Islam in order to stop the war in Iraq.

Unnamed US officials said they believed the speaker, who makes no overt threats against the US, was indeed Bin Laden. It is his first video in three years.

The release of the tape comes near the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

US President George W Bush said the message was "a reminder of the dangerous world in which we live".

"It's important that we show resolve and determination to protect ourselves, deny al-Qaeda safe havens," said the president, who is on a visit to Australia. Date references suggest it may have been made as recently as this summer, US officials studying the tape said.

'Two choices'

A short excerpt from the 30-minute tape was aired by al-Jazeera TV on Friday evening.

It shows Osama Bin Laden sitting at a table, dressed in a white robe and turban and beige cloak. His beard looks shorter and darker than in the video issued in 2004.

Beneath him a banner reads in English "A message from Sheikh Osama Bin Laden to the American people".

The speaker makes no overt threats to the US and did not directly call for attacks, according to transcripts of the tape obtained by several media organisations in the United States.

Instead, he tells the American people that they have failed to persuade the Bush administration to stop the war in Iraq.

"You made one of your greatest mistakes, in that you neither brought to account nor punished those who waged this war," the speaker in the tape says, according to the transcript obtained by ABC News.

"You permitted Bush to complete his first term, and stranger still, chose him for a second term, which gave him a clear mandate from you... to continue to murder our people in Iraq and Afghanistan".

The speaker tells the American public that there are two ways to end the war in Iraq: "The first is from our side, and it is to continue to escalate the killing and fighting against you."

The second way, he continues, is to reject America's democratic system and convert to Islam.

"It has now become clear to you and the entire world the impotence of the democratic system and how it plays with the interest of the peoples and their blood by sacrificing soldiers and populations to achieve the interests of the major corporations".

"I invite you to embrace Islam," the speaker says.

The transcript also makes reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, which indicates that the tape was recorded after Mr Sarkozy's victory in May.

'New plots'

Correspondents say a new video would serve to dispel persistent rumours that the al-Qaeda leader has died.

The US Department of Homeland Security said it had no credible information of an imminent threat in the wake of the video announcement.

Deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said: "I don't think that anything he is likely to say or do is going to change our resolve or the resolve of our international partners to confront extremism."

But in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Friday, CIA director Michael Hayden warned that al-Qaeda was plotting new attacks on the US.

"Our analysts assess with high confidence that al-Qaeda's central leadership is planning high impact plots against the American homeland," he said.

"Al-Qaeda is focusing on targets that would produce mass casualties, dramatic destruction and significant economic aftershocks."

$50m bounty

In his October 2004 video, Osama Bin Laden threatened new attacks against the US on the eve of the presidential election.

Another tape - audio - was released in January 2006. It referred to identifiable events, including the situation in Somalia.

Bin Laden did appear in footage on a militant website in July this year but the clip was undated and correspondents said it might be old footage, which had been recycled.

Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri has appeared in a greater number of videos, including one berating the Pakistani army's assault on radical Islamists in Islamabad's Red Mosque in July.

The US Senate voted to double the bounty on Bin Laden to $50 million (£24.6 million) in July.

[mann_kaum_layee_qurbaan]

ah yes. the old "convert to Islam or die" scenario.

the one almost all Muslims deny.

they startoff by wanting justice and freedom for Palestine. They want American foreign policy to change.

And then boom, the reality comes out, become Muslims, that's the way for peace.

I hope Bin laden tries to sneak into Kashmir and a Sikh soldier captures him and all international media will see a singh holding Bin Laden in a headlock, and the singh tells the camera, hey look fools, real heroes wear turbans, not terrorists.

ah what a sight that would be :D

[buddasingh]

not disagreeing with you mklq, but to add perspective, that's also what is at the crux of the Christian faith.

become Christian, that's the way to be saved.

There would also be muslims and christians who truly believe in the basic right of other faiths to be respected on par. Which, strangely seems to go against what the majority consider fundamentals of each faith.

Are there any muslim or christian bros or sisters here who can shed light on my ignorance from a personal perspective?

[mann_kaum_layee_qurbaan]

buddasingh, would it be safe to suggest that all three semetic faiths have this in common. a kind of, with us or against us, mentality?

i totally agree with you. if we look at the history of south america and read about the horrible forced conversions of the native indians, it is very similar to the forced conversions by zealous muslim rulers...

one of the biggest reasons for people like myself who have a kind of deep suspicion of Islamic thought is that the moderate voice of Islam is drowned out by the imams and sheikhs calling for the death of kafirs. and i'm cautious in using the word moderate, because when thsi word is used for sikhs, it usually refers to people who refute the basic principles of sikhi, rehit etc. so i don't want to say that by moderate muslims, i mean muslims who denounce the core of their faith.

i'm sure this subject requires so much more debate and inquiry. yeah it would be nice to hear a Muslim response to bin laden's alleged recent sayings.

peace.

[proactive]

The nerve of this <banned word filter activated>! I suppose being one of 50 kids of some Arab is enough to mess anyone up! He reminds me of that Comical Ali guy from the Iraq war. Bin Laden is sitting in some shythole of a cave and he thinks he's winning the war!

[Medallion Stallion]

I preferred Bin mans earlier videos they seemed more exciting now his videos are getting more boring :D :D

but on a serious note he's living in a dream world thinking islam will take over the world i dont think he's getting enough oxygen to his cave :D plus i think he has dyed his beard since the last video :wub: :wub:

[Raven]

Its the same old "they are killing our people in Iraq and Afganistan"... Far as i'm aware its Muslims blowing themshelves up aswell as their "people" in these countries.

I really doubt If i convert to Islam it lessens the chance of me geting blown up in a suicide attack by some phsyco Muslim terrorist

[Mehtab Singh]

I hope Bin laden tries to sneak into Kashmir and a Sikh soldier captures him and all international media will see a singh holding Bin Laden in a headlock, and the singh tells the camera, hey look fools, real heroes wear turbans, not terrorists.

ah what a sight that would be :D

Scene 1

Sikh soldier grabbing Bin Laden from his collar and dragging him towards the media cameras.

Scene 2

Sikh soldier showers slaps on Bin Laden and cusses him before and after each slap. The language used is unfamiliar, but locals call it as Punjabi.

Scene 3

Slap 1

Tennu sharm ni aundi daari te dastaar rakh ke duniya nu maari janna !!!

Slap 2

Slap 3

Vadda mukhiya bani firdaan attwaddiyaan da, hunn kithey gaiyaan teriyaan aulaadaan, hain?

Slap 4

Slap 5

Tere karke Singhaan nu poaadey pei rende har passey, te tu dusht fer ni farreya gaya goreayaan ton

Slap 6

Slap 7

Hor bamb suttenga? Hain?

Slap 8

Slap 9

Dassaan tennu bamb ki hunda? Hain?

Slap 10

Slap 11

Hain?

Slap 122

Slap 13

Aa hunda bamb? Laggeya pata?

Slap 14

Slap 15

Aa leh ikk hor

Slap 16

By this time Bin Laden is bleeding and has almost fainted. Just before fainting he is reported to have said something in Punjabi himself, which sounded something like "Mere pyo bas kar, sidda goli maar de"

[Harmeet1]

looooooooooool. :D :D

That is a classic :D

[dalsingh101]

I hope Bin laden tries to sneak into Kashmir and a Sikh soldier captures him and all international media will see a singh holding Bin Laden in a headlock, and the singh tells the camera, hey look fools, real heroes wear turbans, not terrorists.

ah what a sight that would be :D

Scene 1

Sikh soldier grabbing Bin Laden from his collar and dragging him towards the media cameras.

Scene 2

Sikh soldier showers slaps on Bin Laden and cusses him before and after each slap. The language used is unfamiliar, but locals call it as Punjabi.

Scene 3

Slap 1

Tennu sharm ni aundi daari te dastaar rakh ke duniya nu maari janna !!!

Slap 2

Slap 3

Vadda mukhiya bani firdaan attwaddiyaan da, hunn kithey gaiyaan teriyaan aulaadaan, hain?

Slap 4

Slap 5

Tere karke Singhaan nu poaadey pei rende har passey, te tu dusht fer ni farreya gaya goreayaan ton

Slap 6

Slap 7

Hor bamb suttenga? Hain?

Slap 8

Slap 9

Dassaan tennu bamb ki hunda? Hain?

Slap 10

Slap 11

Hain?

Slap 122

Slap 13

Aa hunda bamb? Laggeya pata?

Slap 14

Slap 15

Aa leh ikk hor

Slap 16

By this time Bin Laden is bleeding and has almost fainted. Just before fainting he is reported to have said something in Punjabi himself, which sounded something like "Mere pyo bas kar, sidda goli maar de"

LOL that was funny

Don't forget the classic

"Patha nee kee <admin-profanity filter activated> sumjda aap se aap nu!"