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| Sunday, 31 October 2004 |
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Bin Laden threatens new attacks and accuses Bush DOHA, Saturday (AFP) Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden threatened the United States with attacks similar to September 11, 2001 and accused President George W. Bush of "misleading" his people, in a video message aired Friday just days ahead of the US presidential election. In the video, broadcast by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, Bin Laden also accused Bush of negligence during the September 11 attacks, further inflaming the already intense final struggle between Bush and his rival John Kerry to win the White House. Bin Laden told the American people that their security is not in the hands of either Bush or his Democrat challenger in the November 2 presidential vote but depends on US policy. "Despite the fact that we are into the fourth year after September 11, Bush is still misleading you and hiding the real reason from you, which means that the reasons to repeat what happened remain," said bin Laden. "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry, Bush or Al-Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands. Any (presidential) mandate which does not play havoc with our security would automatically ensure its own security," he added. The tape, deemed authentic by US intelligence agencies, showed bin Laden standing at a pulpit against a plain brown background, reading from a prepared statement and dressed in a white turban and beige cloak. A White House spokesman said the tape appeared to have been recorded recently, while an US official added that a reference to US casualties in Iraq reaching 1,000 dead meant it could have been filmed last month or more recently. Both presidential candidates immediately responded on the campaign trail to the dramatic reappearance of bin Laden, with Bush vowing that the United States would not be intimidated and Kerry pledging that he would "hunt down and destroy" the Al-Qaeda leader. |
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