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Al Qaeda Group Vows to Hit US and British Interests
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group vowed on Sunday to hit US and British interests in retaliation for US-led strikes against Afghanistan, warning Americans and Britons to avoid planes and skyscrapers.
In a statement broadcast on Qatar's al-Jazeera television, Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Bu Ghaith also told US and British "infidels" to leave the Gulf, or else "fire will flare underneath their feet".
In Washington, a White House spokeswoman said the Bush administration dismissed the threats as "propaganda". Earlier, Bush said in a radio address that the US government was taking "strong precautions" to protect Americans at home and abroad from more terror attacks.
Bu Ghaith's comments were the second set of warnings al Qaeda made to the United States in the past week.
"We tell (President George) Bush and others in the US administration that the storms will not stop, particularly the storm of hijacked planes, until the strikes against Afghanistan end and until Palestinian land is liberated," Bu Ghaith said.
Bin Laden has tried to use the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and UN sanctions on Iraq to rally Muslim support for his anti-Western campaign.
"We also advise Americans and Britons, especially Muslims, children and all those who oppose US policy, not to ride planes or live in high buildings," he said.
Qaeda Slams Muslim, US leaders
The United States and Britain launched military raids on Afghanistan last week against bin Laden and his Taliban protectors. Washington has named the Saudi-born militant as its prime suspect in the September 11 suicide plane attacks on US cities which killed nearly 6,000 people.
Bu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti known for outspoken criticism of his own pro-Western government and other Arab states, told Bush, his father George Bush, and the prime ministers of Britain and Israel that they would pay dearly for killing Muslims. He did not elaborate.
"Bush and his father and (Britain's) Tony Blair and (Israel's Ariel) Sharon are on the top of the list of criminals who have committed the most heinous crimes against Muslims," Bu Ghaith, who sports a thick and bushy beard, said.
"The blood of these Muslims will not be spilled in vain."
The Qaeda spokesman also slammed leaders of Muslims countries for not condemning the strikes against Afghanistan and said they were illegitimate.
He was apparently referring to a statement issued by the world's largest Muslim body, the Organisation of Islamic Conference, this week which denounced the attacks on US cities but not the raids on Afghanistan.
"We salute the Muslims who have gone out and demonstrated against this strike, but the Muslim leaders have no legitimacy and they do not represent the Muslim umma (nations)," Bu Ghaith said. "There are thousands of youth who are ready to die."
Anti-US demonstrations have raged in several Muslim countries, but most Muslim governments have either backed the US-led attacks or remained silent.
Earlier, Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar said in a statement that the world's Muslims had to decide between supporting Afghanistan and the United States. He also reiterated that bin Laden would never be handed over.
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