Islamic Web Site Posts Alleged Bin Laden Tape
CAIRO, Egypt (Associated Press) — A man identified as Osama bin Laden, speaking on an audiotape posted on an Islamic Web site Thursday, praised an attack earlier this month on a U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia and criticized the Saudi regime as weak and controlled by the United States.
The tape, which was more than an hour, was posted on a site known as a clearinghouse for militant Islamic comment. The identity of the voice could not be independently confirmed.
The tape appeared the same day another dissident had called for anti-monarchy protests in the kingdom.
Lest anyone forget that the Saudi government is also a target of UBL, he offers this timely reminder in the form a a tape that was posted to an Islamist website. You get a sense that things are changing in the country, in a way he doesn’t like, when he goes out of his way to condemn the upcoming municipal elections as un-Islamic. According to his (and other radical fundamentalists’) interpretations of Islam, democracy is an usurpation of the role of God. That, thankfully, is not a view universally held in the Islamic world.
This tape can be viewed as laying down a marker for all pending elections in the Muslim world, including Palestine and Iraq.
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December:16:2004 - 12:14
New Bin Laden Tape
Al Jazeera via Blogs of War An audio tape purportedly by Osama bin Laden, in which he warns of Dec. 6 attack in Saudi Arabia, was posted on an Internet site on Thursday. The recording, in which bin Laden praises…
December:16:2004 - 12:21
You know, it seems that Bin Laden is making a major mistake here, with the whole new Islamist movement that seems to be embracing democracy (albeit a slightly different kind than we may be used to here in the US). I wonder what Qaradawi would say about this tape?
December:16:2004 - 12:39
A number of my countrymen (around 60 million, I think), seem to be of the opinion that this *IS* the view of the majority of Muslims. Is there any Scriptural Basis for bin Laden’s claim? (that Democracy is stealing authority from God).
Refuting this idea would go a long way towards defeating the “They Hate Us For Our Freedom” myth.
December:16:2004 - 13:40
I don’t think anyone can cite a sura that says “Thou shalt not have democracy.” Instead, a general sense that all power comes from God, who rules the world in all detail. To assume that man would (or could) alter the divine order of the universe is blasphemous.
Most Muslims do not seem to read the Quran in this way, however. The problem is with the minority who do.
December:16:2004 - 13:46
New bin Laden Tape Released
A new audio tape of Osama bin Laden has been posted at an Islamic bulletin board. The tape is over 70 minutes long, but several news agencies are already in the process of translating it. Here are some of the…
December:16:2004 - 14:44
Bin Laden Blames Monarchy
Here’s one that almost passed me by in my ongoing effort to, well, avoid anything news related: a new Bin Laden tape has been released.
“We pray to Allah to welcome the souls of the mujahidin (Islamic fighters) who attacked the American consulate …
December:16:2004 - 14:44
Bin Laden Blames Monarchy
Here’s one that almost passed me by in my ongoing effort to, well, avoid anything news related: a new Bin Laden tape has been released.
“We pray to Allah to welcome the souls of the mujahidin (Islamic fighters) who attacked the American consulate …
December:16:2004 - 15:41
Most Muslims do not seem to read the Quran in this way, however. The problem is with the minority who do.
We Christians have a similar problem. Thank you for your answer, and your blog.