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Osama bin Laden called for intensified fighting against US-led forces in Iraq and made a plea to Muslims in the region to join the battle, in an audio recording posted on the internet this morning.
"Where are the soldiers of the Levant and the reinforcements from Yemen? Where are the knights of Egypt and the lions of Hejaz [region in Saudi Arabia]? Come to the aid of your brothers in Iraq," said the speaker, who sounded like the al Qaeda leader.
Portions of the audio recording, issued as a video carrying a still photograph of bin Laden, were aired by Al Jazeera television yesterday. The tape was produced by As-Sahab, al Qaeda's media arm, and posted on Islamist websites. It carried the date of the lunar month that began in mid-October.
US and Iraqi officials say many insurgents and suicide bombers in Iraq are Arabs from neighbouring countries.
"Increase (the enemy's) disarray and strike further at their necks and hit them with bone-cutting swords," bin Laden said.
He also urged Iraq's Sunni tribes to join insurgents and offer them aid and shelter.
In a section of the recording, Bin Laden had urged Sunni insurgents to put aside differences and unite with his al Qaeda followers, admitting that "mistakes" had been made.
The recording came amid Iraqi government reports of a sharp drop in violence, following a series of US-led summer offensives against insurgents, and reports of clashes between al Qaeda and tribesmen and domestic Iraqi jihadist groups.
- Reuters
