Al-Qaeda threatens US and UK

Sunday, 14 October, 2001, 09:43 GMT 10:43 UK
Al-Qaeda threatens US and UK


Bin Laden: Prime suspect for the 11 September attacks

The al-Qaeda organisation of Islamic militant Osama Bin Laden has said it will hit back against the United States and the United Kingdom in retaliation for the air strikes on Afghanistan.


If the mothers of these need their sons then they should ask them to leave the Arabian peninsula, because the land will be set on fire under their feet, God willing

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith
In another videotaped statement broadcast on the Qatar-based al-Jazeera television station, spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith warned Muslims in the US and UK not to travel by plane or live in skyscrapers - a clear reference to the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.

He also told non-Muslims to leave the Arabian peninsula, and issued specific threats against US President George W Bush and his two predecessors, as well as UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The White House has dismissed the statement as "just more propaganda".

And the British Government has called it a clear admission of responsibility for last month's suicide attacks on the United States.

President Bush, in his weekly radio address, had earlier said that the US Government was taking "strong precautions" to protect Americans at home and abroad from more terror attacks.

'Infidels out'

In his statement, which was apparently recorded on Thursday, Abu Ghaith said: "Al-Qaeda organisation orders the Americans and the infidels in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the Americans and the British, to leave the Arabian Peninsula.

"If the mothers of these need their sons, then they should ask them to leave the Arabian peninsula, because the land will be set on fire under their feet, God willing."



The World Trade Center was destroyed by hijacked aircraft that were flown into it

He continued: "The storms will not calm, especially the aircraft storm.

"These storms will not calm until you retreat in defeat in Afghanistan, stop your assistance to the Jews in Palestine, end the siege imposed on the Iraqi people, leave the Arabian peninsula, and stop your support for the Hindus against the Muslims in Kashmir.

"We also say and advise the Muslims in the United States and Britain, the children, and those who reject the unjust US policy not to travel by plane. We also advise them not to live in high-rise buildings and towers."

Unlike the al-Qaeda video message of last Tuesday in which similar threats were made by Abu Ghaith, this latest statement was not broadcast immediately by the American networks following a request by the government.

The Bush administration has already complained to al-Jazeera television about its policy of carrying such statements, saying it should not broadcast anything that incites Muslims to violence