Osama bin Laden Blames French in New Audio Tape

Threatens to kill French citizens to avenge their support for U.S.-led war in Afghanistan

October 27, 2010

DUBAI — Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden threatens in a new audio tape to kill French citizens to avenge their country’s support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and a new law that will ban face-covering Muslim veils.

In the tape posted on Al-Jazeera’s website, bin Laden said France was aiding the Americans in the killing of Muslim women and children in an apparent reference to the war in Afghanistan. …

“How can it be right that you participate in the occupation of our lands, support the Americans in the killing of our women and children and yet want to live in peace?” said bin Laden, addressing the French.

“It is a simple equation: As you kill, you will be killed. As you capture, you will be captured. And as you threaten our security, your security will be threatened.” …

France has about 4,000 troops deployed in and near Afghanistan. …

Full story

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10/29/10 Update

Bin Laden Tape is Real, French Say

Bin Laden warns France to get out of Afghanistan.
(Image: CNN / File)

October 28, 2010

Paris, France — A tape of a man claiming to be Osama Bin Laden threatening France appears to be authentic, the French Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Bin Laden warned France to get its troops out of Afghanistan and not to oppress Muslims at home in a tape broadcast by the Al-Jazeera network Wednesday.

“If you want to tyrannize and think that it is your right to ban the free women from wearing the burqa, isn’t it our right to expel your occupying forces, your men from our lands by striking them by the neck?” the speaker demands, in reference to recently passed French legislation barring women from covering their faces in public.

“This message only confirms the reality of the terrorist threat against which the French authorities have taken and continue to take appropriate measures,” the ministry said in a statement Thursday. …

“France will continue to fight against terrorism alongside its partners,” the ministry said. …

French authorities are treating the Bin Laden message “very, very seriously,” CNN counterterror analyst Paul Cruickshank said. …

The France’s terror alert level is red, the second highest, authorities say. It did not change immediately in response to the new tape. …

Bin Laden is still providing strategic direction to al Qaeda from a base somewhere in Pakistan, Cruickshank said.

“He is still involved in actual plotting… signing off on (an) operation, Western intelligence authorities believe,” he said.

But there have been only two successful attacks on the West since September 11, 2001, he pointed out.

Commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, were bombed in March 2004, killing 191 people. Public transport in London, England, was bombed in July 2005, killing 52, plus four suicide bombers.

France has 3,750 troops in Afghanistan, according to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. …

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11/19/10 Update

Al-Qaida: French Must Negotiate with Bin Laden

Osama bin Laden is shown in an undated photo. In October 2010 he said Al-Qaeda has the right to respond to France’s ban on the Muslim veil by driving French “conquerors” out of Afghanistan. (Photo credit: Al-Jazeera TV / AFP — Getty Images file)

By Hadeel Al-Shalchi

November 18, 2010

CAIRO — A leader of al-Qaida’s North Africa branch said Thursday that future negotiations over the fate of five French hostages taken from an African mining town must be conducted with terror network leader Osama bin Laden himself.

In an audio excerpt released by the Al-Jazeera news channel on Thursday, Abu Mossab Abdelouadoud said that to ensure the safety of the hostages, French troops must also withdraw from Afghanistan. …

The recording comes just over two weeks after an audio message from bin Laden himself addressed to the French people in which he slammed the French for having troops in Afghanistan and a new law banning the face-covering veil.

Abdelouadoud repeated the call for the French to withdraw from Afghanistan and cease harming Muslims.

“Unless you stop interfering in our affairs and committing your injustices to Muslims, and if you want the safety for the French people, then you should to quickly pull your forces from Afghanistan,” he said. …

A series of warnings has put France and other European countries on high alert in recent weeks, prompting the U.S. State Department to advise American citizens living or traveling in Europe to take more precautions. Speculation on the source of a potential terror threat in France has focused on al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

Full story

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Related reports on this site

Al-Qaida Plans Swarm Attacks (Oct. 2, 2010)

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U.S. prepares to issue new travel caution (NBC Nightly News, Oct. 2, 2010) — According to a report, the alert — which comes amid signs that al-Qaida may be planning to attack targets in Western Europe — won’t address a specific country or landmark, but will instruct Americans to be vigilant when traveling overseas. NBC’s Tazeen Ahmad reports. (01:55)

New Post-9/11 Terrorist Strategy (Sept. 22, 2010)

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Report warns of small-scale attacks by al Qaida (MSNBC, Sept. 25, 2010) — A Washington Post report says that the risk of small-scale attacks by al Qaida and its allies are on the rise. MSNBC’s Alex Witt talks with international terrorism consultant Evan Kolmann. (03:19)

Al-Qaida Releases 9/11 Audio Tape (Sept. 16, 2010)

Ayman al-Zawahri is believed to be hiding in mountains along the Afghan-Pakistani border. (Photo credit: IntelCenter / As-Sahab via AP)

Taliban, Al-Qaida on the Move (April 22, 2010)

Supporters of a Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami burn an effigy of President Barack Obama during a rally in Lahore against U.S. drone attacks in tribal areas. (Photo credit: K. M. Chaudary / AP)

Al-Qaida Nuclear Terror Threat (April 9, 2010)

It is feared that terrorists could bring a nuclear bomb up the Thames on a small boat. (Photo credit: The Associated Press)

Al-Qaida Aims to Hit U.S. with WMD (Jan. 26, 2010)

Video

WMD report gives government failing grade (Jan. 26, 2010) — A new report warns that the U.S. government is far behind in preparing for a biological or nuclear attack by terrorists. NBC’s Pete Williams reports. (01:50)

Al-Qaida’s Next High-Value Target (Jan. 18, 2010)

Osama bin Laden Psychological Profile (Dec. 6, 2009)

Ayman al-Zawahiri Psychological Profile (June 3, 2009)

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. . . . . . OCTOBER 29 BREAKING NEWS . . . . . .

U.S. Counterterrorism Measures Being Probed By Al-Qaida?

Multiple suspicious packages on U.S. cargo jets being investigated

Video

Suspicious packages investigated on UPS planes (NBC News Special Report, Oct. 29, 2010) — Citing an “abundance of caution,” Federal authorities are searching several UPS freight jets after suspicious packages are reported to have originated from overseas. NBC Anchor Brian Williams and NBC’s Pete Williams report. (08:13)

Suspicious packages reported across U.S.

This Oct. 2008 file photo shows U.S.-born Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki, who has called on Muslims to kill American civilians. (Photo credit: Associated Press / Los Angeles Times)

Shots fired at U.S. government installations (appears unrelated)

Video

More shots fired at Marine Corps museum (MSNBC, Oct. 29, 2010) — For the fourth time this month, shots have been fired at a Washington-area military facility. NBC’s Pete Williams reports. (03:14)

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6/28/11 Update: Marine reservist charged in military shootings

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — October 27, 2009

Iraq-Afghanistan Casualties

One year ago today, I provided my weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Funeral services are being held for a soldier with South Dakota ties who was killed in Afghanistan.

The Defense Department says 24-year-old Army Sgt. Eduviges “Duvi” Guadalupe Wolf of Hawthorne, Calif., died Oct. 25, 2009 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit her vehicle.

She was a member of Alpha Company of the 704th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

She leaves behind two children and a husband who also has been stationed in Afghanistan.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — October 27, 2008

Write-in Campaign: Day 9

Two years ago today, on the ninth day of my write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, in line with my focus on national security, I reported that despite millions of dollars of U.S. expenditure in Mosul since 2003 to improve electricity, overhaul army facilities, and rehabilitate schools and other infrastructure, five years of war had reduced much of Iraq’s third-largest city to rubble.

U.S. Army soldiers investigate the site of a car bombing in Mosul, northwest of Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008. Five years after the U.S.-led invasion and following a significant drop in violence countrywide over the past year, the battle for Iraq’s third-largest city continues. (Photo credit: Maya Alleruzzo / AP)