Author: PTI, Reuters
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: September 30, 2003
In a new audio tape released by
terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden's group, the Al Qaeda has appealed to
Pakistani soldiers to "topple" President Pervez Musharraf or he will "hand
over" them to the Hindus.
The tape aired by the Qatar-based
Al Jazeera Arabic TV channel showed Bin Laden's principal spokesman, Ayman
Al Zawahiri telling Pakistani officers and soldiers that the President
would "hand you over to the Hindus and flee to enjoy his secret bank accounts"
if India attacked their country.
Al-Zawahiri also condemned Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recent visit to India, saying the agreements
signed were "a drop in the ocean of the American-Jewish-Indian alliance
against Muslims." Zawahiri said President Musharraf helped the United States
to topple the Taliban government in Afghanistan in the October 2001 invasion
that killed thousands of innocents in the war- torn country.
During the broadcast on Sunday,
the Al Qaeda spokesman also claimed the Pakistani President was seeking
to recognise Israel and send troops to Iraq in a bid to gain full American
approval.
"Musharraf...is seeking to send
Pakistani forces to Iraq so that they, rather than American soldiers, are
killed and so that they kill Muslims in Iraq and enable America to control
Muslim lands," the Al Jazeera tape said. Zwahiri said in the tape that
Washington would not reward President Musharraf for his services and cited
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as "a living example" of what happens
to "traitors." "He gave Israel and America all that they asked for. But
despite this, they are now incarcerating him in his office (in the West
Bank town of Ramallah)... and lately decided to expel him." Although the
CIA has described the recording as "probably authentic", Al Jazeera said
it did not know when the tape was recorded. But the remarks were replete
with references to recent events such as Sharon's September visit to India
and developments in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
Al-Zawahiri also said that Osama
Bin Laden and Taliban's Mulla Muhammad Umar were both alive.
The outburst against President Musharraf,
observers said, is strikingly similar to attacks on the Pakistani leader
in another Al-Zawahiri audio tape broadcast on the eve of the second anniversary
of September 11 terror attacks on US.
Meanwhile, Pakistan dismissed on
Monday a threat against its president by Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahri,
and said that the war against "terrorism" would continue.
Arabic satellite television broadcast
an audio tape purporting to come from Zawahri on Sunday in which he urged
Pakistanis to overthrow President Pervez Musharraf for "betraying" Islam.
"Al Qaeda is a terrorist organisation,"
Masood Khan, foreign ministry spokesman, told a press conference.
"Pakistan is part of the war on
terrorism and the pursuit of terrorists, Al Qaeda and their associates
will continue despite these threats," he added. It was not possible to
verify the authenticity of the tape, in which the speaker also urged Muslims
around the world to fight what Zawahri called the Christian- Zionist crusade
"aimed at eradicating Islam and Muslims."
"Muslims in Pakistan must unite
to oust this traitor and put in place a loyal leadership in Pakistan which
defends Islam and Muslims," the speaker said. Mr Khan said the purpose
of the tape was to deliberately mislead Pakistanis and Muslims about President
Musharraf, who was a "bridge" between the Islamic world and the West. "We
won't be deterred, and I want to add that the president of Pakistan is
fighting for the Muslim Ummah (nation) and he is fast becoming a symbol
of Muslim unity," Mr Khan said.
The voice on the tape blasted the
Pakistani President for aiding Washington in its war in Afghanistan against
Al Qaeda and the Taliban.