the latest.....

[Guest BROWNer]

By Hamid Mir

 

 

KABUL, Nov 9: Osama bin Laden has said that "we have

chemical and nuclear weapons as a deterrent and if America

used them against us we reserve the right to use them".

 

He said this in a special interview with Hamid Mir, the

editor of Ausaf, for Dawn and Ausaf, at an undisclosed

location near Kabul.

 

This was the first interview given by Osama to any journalist

after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

 

 

The correspondent was taken blindfolded in a jeep from Kabul on the night of Nov 7 to a place

where it was extremely cold and one could hear the sound of anti-aircraft guns firing away.

After a wait of some time , Osama arrived with about a dozen bodyguards and Dr Ayman

Al-Zuwahiri and answered questions.

 

Hamid Mir: After American bombing on Afghanistan on Oct 7, you told the Al-Jazeera TV that

the Sept 11 attacks had been carried out by some Muslims. How did you know they were

Muslims ?

 

Osama bin Laden: The Americans themselves released a list of the suspects of the Sept 11

attacks, saying that the persons named were involved in the attacks. They were all Muslims, of

whom 15 belonged to Saudi Arabia, two were from the UAE and one from Egypt. According to

the information I have, they were all passengers.Fateha was held for them in their homes. But

America said they were hijackers.

 

HM: In your statement of Oct 7, you expressed satisfaction over the Sept 11 attacks, although a

large number of innocent people perished in them, hundreds among them were Muslims. Can

you justify the killing of innocent men in the light of Islamic teachings ?

 

OBL: This is a major point in jurisprudence. In my view, if an enemy occupies a Muslim

territory and uses common people as human shield, then it is permitted to attack that enemy.

For instance, if bandits barge into a home and hold a child hostage, then the child's father can

attack the bandits and in that attack even the child may get hurt.

 

America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechenya, Kashmir and Iraq. The

Muslims have the right to attack America in reprisal. The Islamic Shariat says Muslims should

not live in the land of the infidel for long. The Sept 11 attacks were not targeted at women and

children. The real targets were America's icons of military and economic power.

 

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was against killing women and children. When he saw a

dead woman during a war, he asked why was she killed ? If a child is above 13 and wields a

weapon against Muslims, then it is permitted to kill him.

 

The American people should remember that they pay taxes to their government, they elect their

president, their government manufactures arms and gives them to Israel and Israel uses them

to massacre Palestinians. The American Congress endorses all government measures and this

proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims.

The entire America, because they elect the Congress.

 

I ask the American people to force their government to give up anti-Muslim policies. The

American people had risen against their government's war in Vietnam. They must do the same

today. The American people should stop the massacre of Muslims by their government.

 

HM: Can it be said that you are against the American government, not the American people ?

 

OSB: Yes! We are carrying on the mission of our Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him).

The mission is to spread the word of God, not to indulge massacring people. We ourselves are

the target of killings, destruction and atrocities. We are only defending ourselves. This is

defensive Jihad. We want to defend our people and our land. That is why I say that if we don't

get security, the Americans, too would not get security.

 

This is a simple formula that even an American child can understand. This is the formula of live

and let live.

 

HM: The head of Egypt's Jamia Al-Azhar has issued a fatwa (edict) against you, saying that the

views and beliefs of Osama bin Laden have nothing to do with Islam. What do you have to say

about that ?

 

OSB: The fatwa of any official Aalim has no value for me. History is full of such Ulema who

justify Riba, who justify the occupation of Palestine by the Jews, who justify the presence of

American troops around Harmain Sharifain. These people support the infidels for their

personal gain.The true Ulema support the Jihad against America. Tell me if Indian forces

invaded Pakistan what would you do? The Israeli forces occupy our land and the American

troops are on our territory. We have no other option but to launch Jihad.

 

HM: Some Western media claim that you are trying to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons.

How much truth is there in such reports?

 

OSB: I heard the speech of American President Bush yesterday (Oct 7). He was scaring the

European countries that Osama wanted to attack with weapons of mass destruction. I wish to

declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with

chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent.

 

HM: Where did you get these weapons from ?

 

OSB: Go to the next question.

 

HM: Demonstrations are being held in many European countries against American attacks on

Afghanistan. Thousands of the protesters were non-Muslims. What is your opinion about those

non-Muslim protesters ?

 

OSB: There are many innocent and good-hearted people in the West. American media

instigates them against Muslims. However, some good-hearted people are protesting against

American attacks because human nature abhors injustice.

 

The Muslims were massacred under the UN patronage in Bosnia. I am ware that some officers

of the State Department had resigned in protest. Many years ago the US ambassador in Egypt

had resigned in protest against the policies of President Jimmy Carter. Nice and civilized are

everywhere. The Jewish lobby has taken America and the West hostage.

 

HM: Some people say that war is no solution to any issue. Do you think that some political

formula could be found to stop the present war ?

 

OSB: You should put this question to those who have started this war. We are only defending

ourselves.

 

HM: If America got out of Saudi Arabia and the Al-Aqsa mosque was liberated, would you then

present yourself for trial in some Muslim country ?

 

OSB: Only Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Pakistan follows the English law. I don't consider

Saudi Arabia an Islamic country. If the Americans have charges against me, we too have a

charge sheet against them.

 

HM: Pakistan government decided to cooperate with America after Sept 11, which you don't

consider right. What do you think Pakistan should have done but to cooperate with America ?

 

OSB: The government of Pakistan should have the wishes of the people in view. It should not

have surrendered to the unjustified demands of America. America does not have solid proof

against us. It just has some surmises. It is unjust to start bombing on the basis of those surmises.

 

 

HM: Had America decided to attack Pakistan with the help of India and Israel, what would

have we done ?

 

OSB: What has America achieved by attacking Afghanistan ? We will not leave the Pakistani

people and the Pakistani territory at anybody's mercy.

 

We will defend Pakistan. But we have been disappointed by Gen Pervez Musharraf. He says

that the majority is with him. I say the majority is against him.

 

Bush has used the word crusade. This is a crusade declared by Bush. It is no wisdom to barter

off blood of Afghan brethren to improve Pakistan's economy. He will be punished by the

Pakistani people and Allah.

 

Right now a great war of Islamic history is being fought in Afghanistan. All the big powers are

united against Muslims. It is ' sawab ' to participate in this war.

 

HM: A French newspaper has claimed that you had kidney problem and had secretly gone to

Dubai for treatment last year. Is that correct ?

 

OSB: My kidneys are all right. I did not go to Dubai last year. One British newspaper has

published an imaginary interview with Islamabad dateline with one of my sons who lives in

Saudi Arabia. All this is false.

 

HM: Is it correct that a daughter of Mulla Omar is your wife or your daughter is Mulla Omar's

wife ?

 

OSB: (Laughs). All my wives are Arabs ( and all my daughters are married to Arab

Mujahideen). I have spiritual relationship with Mulla Omar. He is a great and brave Muslim

of this age. He does not fear anyone but Allah. He is not under any personal relationship or

obligation to me. He is only discharging his religious duty. I, too, have not chosen this life out of

any personal consideration.

[Guest BROWNer]

ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: Journalist Hamid Mir ratcheted up the world's jitters today with an

exclusive interview with bin Laden in which Osama Bin Laden said he had nuclear and

chemical weapons and was ready to use them.He's in high spirits, speaking confidently and

laughing readily. Osama bin Laden is a man at ease even though he feels the Americans will

eventually kill him, his interviewer Hamid Mir said today.

 

Mir, who published the interview in Pakistan's English-language newspaper Dawn, says he

first met with bin Laden in 1997 and 1998. When he saw the shadowy Saudi millionaire this time

in Afghanistan, he found him greatly changed.

 

"Previously he was very soft-spoken," the 36-year-old Mir told AFP. "But now he speaks like an

experienced orator. He is very hard-hitting.

 

He was in high spirits. He's very healthy and he laughs a lot.

 

"He's very critical about the government of Pakistan. Previously he was not so critical about

Pakistan. So there is a big change in that man. He's more confident," said Mir.

 

The world's most hunted man since the September 11 terror attacks on the United States, bin

Laden feels certain the Americans will kill him sooner or later, according to Mir.

 

"He told me, 'I am ready to die.' He said, 'I know that they can bomb this place also. They are

not aware that I am present here. But they are dropping bombs blindly everywhere. So I may

get killed even with you."

 

"My cause will continue after my death," he quoted bin Laden as saying. "They think they will

solve this problem by killing me. It's not easy to solve this problem. This war has been spread all

over the world."

 

Bin Laden, who is said to live constantly on the move to avoid capture and reportedly often

shuttles from cave to cave, expressed no regret for his difficult circumstances.

 

"I cannot gain anything by adopting this way of life," Mir quoted him as saying. "I am fighting

because they are killing us. We are the victims and they are the aggressors so we have no other

option but to fight back."

 

The interview conducted Thursday was bin Laden's first since the kamikaze assaults on New

York and Washington. But Mir said the terror suspect planned to invite journalists to Kabul for

a press conference in the coming weeks.

 

The tortured logistics of organising Mir's session with bin Laden were typical of the

clandestine, ultra-security-conscious world surrounding the terror suspect. - AFP

[Guest BROWNer]

WASHINGTON, Nov 10: The White House declined late Friday to directly respond to an

interview in which Osama bin Laden claimed to have nuclear weapons, but said through a

spokesman that US officials view such a threat seriously. "We've said that we've suspected all

along that this organisation has been trying to acquire chemical, biological or nuclear

weapons," said White House spokesman Ken Lisaius.

 

"We take these past statements seriously and we will do everything we can to prevent their

acquisition of these materials," said Lisaius. However Lisaius did not comment on the

likelihood that bin Laden may currently posses such an arsenal.

 

His comments came in response to an interview in Pakistan in which bin Laden claimed to be in

possession of nuclear and chemical weapons, and threatened to use them against the United

States.

 

Bin Laden, told the Pakistani newspaper Dawn in an interview published today that the

nuclear weapons would be used as a "deterrent against a US attack.

 

"I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us then we may

retort with chemical and nuclear weapons," quoted bin Laden as saying in the interview in

Kabul. - AFP

[Guest BROWNer]

http://savvytraveler.com/show/features/2001/20010223/images/interview.jpg'>

[Guest BROWNer]

WASHINGTON, Nov 10: The United States said late Friday it would boycott a weekend UN

meeting aimed at pushing the implementation of a major nuclear test ban treaty. State

Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington would not be represented at the

meeting, set to begin on Sunday on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly session,

on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) despite an invitation to attend that had been

extended to it.

 

"The conference is for countries which have ratified the CTBT," he said in a brief written

answer to a question asked at Thursday's State Department news briefing.

 

"Other countries, including the United States, have been invited to attend as observers," he

said. "The United States will not be attending." Boucher did not elaborate.

 

Former US president Bill Clinton signed the CTBT in 1996 but the Senate refused to ratify the

treaty and President George W. Bush has said he is opposed to the pact and will not ask for

lawmakers to adopt it.

 

Uniquely among international treaties, the CTBT cannot come into force until it has been

ratified by 44 countries named as having a nuclear potential.

 

So far, 161 governments have signed the treaty and 84 parliaments have ratified it, but they

include only 31 of the key states.

 

Two of the five declared nuclear weapons states, China and the United States, have signed but

not ratified the treaty, and unlike the three others, Britain, France and Russia, they are not

sending ministers to the conference, UN officials said earlier on Friday.

 

But Boucher's comments marked the first time the United States had said it would not send

anyone of any level to the meeting.

 

Representatives of 79 nations begin talks Sunday on implementing a treaty, which a senior UN

official said could lessen the threat of nuclear terrorism, but which remains blocked by 13 key

countries including the United States.

 

Jayantha Dhanapala, head of the United Nations' department of disarmament affairs, said

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would exhort the 13 to ratify the treaty in his opening

speech to the three-day conference. - AFP

[SEKrocstar OTR CFC]

good info, thank you.

[suburbian bum]

Where did you get these form? I may be a skeptic, but for some reason i dont beleive it.

[Poop Man Bob]

Originally posted by suburbian bum

Where did you get these form? I may be a skeptic, but for some reason i dont beleive it.

 

http://www.dawn.com/2001/11/10/top1.htm

 

I got the link off of www.drudgereport.com ... a good site if anyone is interested in getting a quick run-down of the news.

 

Thank you for posting this, twink. I read the article right before I came to 12 oz., but reading it again did me some good. Although he doesn't expressly state that he has nukes ... the fact that it can be implied from his statements makes me worry.

 

Ugh.

[Guest BROWNer]

Originally posted by suburbian bum

Where did you get these form? I may be a skeptic, but for some reason i dont beleive it.

 

poop knows the deal. dawn is an english/pakistani newspaper.

^