Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden slammed US President George W Bush's policy on Iraq, accusing him of having replaced Saddam Hussein by another "agent" in order to plunder the country's oil resources, Al-Jazeera television reported. The news channel aired a videotape of bin Laden in which he threatened new attacks against the United States, days before the US presidential elections. According to Al-Jazeera, which did not broadcast the excerpt in Iraq, bin Laden accused Bush of having replaced one US agent by another at the head of the Iraqi regime so that he helps the United States plunder Iraqi oil resources.
Al-Jazeera said bin Laden also accused the United States of considering injustice and the massacre of innocent people to be a legitimate act and said that the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington were a response to US injustices. These injustices included the millions of bombs dropped on the children of Iraq, the television reported. In the parts aired by Al-Jazeera, bin Laden threatened more September 11-style attacks, accused Bush of "misleading" his people and said the American people's security hinged on US policy, not on whether Bush or his Democratic challenger John Kerry wins the November 2 elections. The tape has been deemed authentic by US intelligence agencies. |