Bin Laden: Youths of God preparing more strikes

OSAMA bin Laden, warning that more attacks were being planned by the “youths of God” against the United States, yesterday demanded that Washington stop its “aggression” against Muslims.

“By God, the youths of God are preparing for you things that would fill your hearts with terror and target your economic lifeline until you stop your oppression and aggression, or until one of us dies and God give us strength,” the leader of al-Qaeda said in an audio tape broadcast by the Qatar-based al-Jazeera network.

No film footage of bin Laden was shown. Instead, the brief message was broadcast with a picture of bin Laden in the background.

Bin Laden said he was addressing the US people, whom he called on to “understand the message of the New York and Washington attacks, which came in response to some of your previous crimes.

“But those who follow the activities of the band of criminals in the White House, the Jewish agents, who are preparing for an attack on the Muslim world … you have not understood anything from the message of the two attacks.”

The broadcast came on the first anniversary of the

US-led attack on al-Qaeda and the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.

It was not immediately clear when the tape was made. Last month, al-Jazeera aired excerpts from a videotape in which a voice, said to be bin Laden’s, was heard naming the 19 leaders of the 11 September hijackers.

Until then, bin Laden had not been heard from since shortly after the bombing campaign began in Afghanistan last October.

Al-Jazeera said that although it conducted an interview with two top al-Qaeda fugitives in June, it was held and aired to correspond with the first anniversary of the 11 September attacks.

American government officials announced shortly after that broadcast that one of the fugitives was being held in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, it was reported last night that Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, has been warned by his attorney-general that military action against Iraq to force a regime change would breach international law.

The clear advice from Lord Goldsmith and Harriet Harman, the solicitor general, places the Prime Minister in a potentially “impossible position”, according to the Financial Times.