Al-Qaeda Not Involved, Says bin Laden
The following is the slightly
edited text of an interview conducted by a “special correspondent” for the
Pakistani newspaper, Ummat, which was published on Sept. 28. The place and the
date of interview were not given.
In light of the U.S. media’s
self-imposed censorship of bin Laden’s statements, AFP believes it is important
to hear—true or not—what he has said recently.
Ummat’s questions are in bold
text. Osama’s responses are in regular text. The full interview can be found at
www.khilafah.com.
You have been accused of involvement in the
attacks in New York and Washington. What do you want to say about this? If you
are not involved, who might be?
I am thankful to The Ummat Group of Publications,
which gave me the opportunity to convey my viewpoint to the people,
particularly the valiant and true Muslim people of Pakistan who refused to
believe the lie of the demon. I have already said that I am not involved in the
Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie.
I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent
women, children, and other humans as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids
causing harm to innocent women, children, and other people. Such a practice is
forbidden ever in the course of a battle.
It is the United States, which is perpetrating
every maltreatment on women, children, and common people of other faiths,
particularly the followers of Islam. All that is going on in Palestine for the
last 11 months is sufficient to call the wrath of God upon the United States
and Israel.
There is also a warning for those Muslim
countries, which witnessed all these as silent spectators. What had earlier
been done to the innocent people of Iraq, Chechnya, and Bosnia? Only one
conclusion could be derived from the indifference of the United States and the
West to these acts of terror and the patronage of the tyrants by these powers
that America is an anti-Islamic power and it is patronizing the anti-Islamic
forces.
Its friendship with the Muslim countries is just a
show, rather deceit. By enticing or intimidating these countries, the United
States is forcing them to play a role of its choice. Put a glance all around
and you will see that the slaves of the United States are either rulers or
enemies [of Muslims].
The U.S. has no friends, nor does it want to keep
any because the prerequisite of friendship is to come to the level of the
friend or consider him on par with you. America does not want to see anyone
equal to it. It expects slavery from others. Therefore, other countries are
either its slaves or subordinates.
There are countries, which do not agree to become
its slaves, such as China, Iran, Libya, Cuba, Syria, and the former Russia.
Whoever committed the act of Sept. 11 are not the
friends of the American people. I have already said that we are against the
American system, not against its people, whereas in these attacks, the common
American people have been killed.
According to my information, the death toll is
much higher than what the U.S. government has stated. But the Bush
administration does not want panic to spread. The United States should look
within itself for the perpetrators of these attacks: those people who are part
of the U.S. system, but are dissenting against it. Or those who are working for
some other system; persons who want to make the present century as a century of
conflict between Islam and Christianity so that their own civilization, nation,
country, or ideology can survive.
It could be anyone, from Russia to Israel and from
India to Serbia. In the U.S. itself, there are dozens of well-organized and
well-equipped groups, which are capable of causing a large-scale destruction.
Then you cannot forget the American Jews, who are
annoyed with President Bush ever since the elections in Florida and want to
avenge him.
Then there are intelligence agencies in the U.S.,
which require billions of dollars from Congress and the government every year.
This [funding issue] was not a big problem while Soviet Union was in existence
but, after that, the budget of these agencies has been in danger. They needed
an enemy. So, they first started propaganda against Osama and the Taliban and
then this incident happened.
You see: the Bush administration approved a budget
of $40 billion. Where will this huge amount go? It will be provided to the same
agencies, which need huge funds and want to exert their importance. Now they
will spend the money for their expansion and for increasing their importance.
I will give you an example. Drug smugglers from
all over the world are in contact with the U.S. secret agencies. These agencies
do not want to eradicate narcotics cultivation and trafficking because their
importance will be diminished. The people in the U.S. drug enforcement
department are encouraging drug trade so that they could show performance and
get millions of dollars worth of budget.
General [Manuel] Noriega was made a drug baron by
the CIA and, eventually, he was made a scapegoat. In the same way, whether it
is President Bush or any other U.S. president, they cannot bring Israel to
justice for its human rights abuses or to hold it accountable for such crimes.
What is this? Is it not that there exists a government within the government in
the United Sates? That secret government must be asked who made the attacks.
The losses caused by the attacks in New York
and Washington have proven that giving an economic blow to the U.S. is not too
difficult. U.S. experts admit that a few more such attacks can bring down the
American economy. Why is Al-Qaeda not targeting their economic pillars?
I have already said that we are not hostile to the
United States. We are against the system, which makes other nations slaves of
the United States, or forces them to mortgage their political and economic
freedom. This system is totally in control of the American Jews, whose first
priority is Israel, not the United States. It is simply that the American
people are themselves the slaves of the Jews and are forced to live according
to the principles and laws laid by them. So, the punishment should reach Israel.
In fact, it is Israel, which is giving a blood bath to innocent Muslims and the
U.S. is not uttering a single word.
Why is harm not caused to the enemies of Islam
through other means, apart from the armed struggle? For instance, inciting the
Muslims to boycott Western products, banks, shipping lines and TV channels.
The first thing is that Western products could
only be boycotted when the Muslim fraternity is fully awakened and organized.
Secondly, the Muslim companies should become self-sufficient in producing goods
equal to the products of Western companies.
You see that wealth is scattered all across the
Muslim world but not a single TV channel has been acquired which can preach
Islamic injunctions according to modern requirements and attain an international
influence. Muslim traders and philanthropists should make it a point that if
the weapon of public opinion is to be used, it is to be kept in the hand.
Today’s world is of public opinion and the fates of nations are determined
through its pressure. Once the tools for building public opinion are obtained,
everything that you asked for can be done.
The entire propaganda about your struggle has
so far been made by the Western media. But there is no information from your
sources about the network of Al-Qaeda and its jihadi successes. Would you
comment?
Our silence is our real propaganda. Rejections,
explanations, or misprints only waste your time. Through them, the enemy wants
you to engage in things which are not of a use to you. These things are pulling
you away from your cause. The Western media is unleashing such baseless
propaganda, which surprises us, but it reflects what is in their hearts.
Gradually they themselves become captive of this propaganda. They become afraid
of it and begin to cause harm to themselves.
Terror is the most dreaded weapon in the modern
age and the Western media is mercilessly using it against its own people. It
can add fear and helplessness in the psyche of the people of Europe and the
United States. It means that what the enemies of the United States cannot do,
its media is doing. You can understand what the performance of a nation will be
in a war, which suffers from fear and helplessness.
Are there safe areas other than Afghanistan
where you can continue jihad?
There are areas in all parts of the world where
strong jihadi forces are present, from Indonesia to Algeria, from Kabul to
Chechnya, from Bosnia to Sudan, and from Burma to Kashmir.
That it is not my problem. I am a helpless
fellowman of God, constantly in the fear of my accountability before God. It is
not the question of Osama but of Islam and, in Islam too, of jihad. Thanks to
God, those waging a jihad can walk today with their heads raised. Jihad will
still be here when there is no Osama.