Osama on himself and US (News paper article gives his city of birth)

[Guest guest]

Osama on himself and US

 

 

 

 

DAMASCUS, Syria: Osama Bin Laden believes Muslims should own

chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. American soldiers are

cowardly and weak, he contends. As for the reward the United States

has placed on his head, Bin Laden is confident none of his followers

will give him up.

 

A book with that and more of Bin Laden in his own words has been

snapped up by Arabic readers since he was named the No. 1 suspect in

the September 11 suicide bombings in New York and Washington. The

book, Bin Laden, Al-Jazeera - and I by Jamal Abdul Latif Ismail,

includes a 54-page transcript of the complete 1998 interview that was

broadcast in abbreviated form on Al-Jazeera, a popular Arabic

satellite program.

 

The book has sold out across book stores in the Mideast, prompting

some readers to borrow and photocopy it from friends.

 

Bin Laden spoke to Ismail in a tent in mountainous southern

Afghanistan four months after the August 1998 bombing of two U.S.

embassies in Africa, an attack in which he's also a suspect.

___________________

Bin Laden began the interview with personal notes, saying he was born

45 years ago, in the Muslim year of 1377, in the Saudi capital of<<--

Riyadh.

___________________

Bin Laden's father, Muhammad, who was born in the Yemeni region of

Hadramawt, was a prominent construction magnate who built the major

mosques in Mecca and Medina and undertook repairs on Jerusalem's Dome

of the Rock. He died when Bin Laden was 10.

 

After getting a degree in economics at a university in Jiddah, Bin

Laden joined his father's company before beginning his road to jihad.

 

Even before U.S. President George W. Bush mentioned the

word "crusade" in describing the anti-terror campaign, Bin Laden was

using that term to describe alleged U.S. intentions against Muslims.

 

"There's a campaign that's part of the ongoing Crusader-Jewish wars

against Islam," Bin Laden told Ismail.

 

Asked about his 1998 edict urging Muslims to target not only the U.S.

military, but also American civilians, Bin Laden said only American

men were the target. "Every American man is an enemy whether he is

among the fighters who fight us directly or among those who pay taxes.

 

Bin Laden claimed Western attacks on Arabs, such as the British-U.S.

bombings of Iraq, were directed by Israelis and Jews who have

infiltrated the White House, the Defense Department, the State

Department and the CIA.

 

His views on other issues:

 

-On reports he was trying to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear

weapons, Bin Laden said: "At a time when Israel stores hundreds of

nuclear warheads and bombs and the Western Crusaders control a large

percentage of unbalanced person would ask such a question. It's the

duty of Muslims to own (the weapons), and America knows that, today,

Muslims have acquired such a weapon."

 

-On whether he's ready to stand trial in an Islamic court: "We are

ready at any time for a legitimate court ... If the plaintiff is the

United States of America, we at the same time will sue it for many

things ... it committed in the land of Muslims."

 

-Bin Laden denied he was behind the 1998 embassy bombings, but

acknowledged he "has incited (Muslims) to wage jihad."

 

-Asked about the freezing of his assets, Bin Laden said even though

the United States has pressured several countries to "rob us of our

rights," he and his followers have survived. "We feel that the whole

universe is with us and money is like a passing shadow. We urge

Muslims to spend their money on jihad and especially on the movements

that have devoted themselves to the killing of Jews and the

Crusaders."

 

-On the U.S-backed fight against the Soviet presence in

Afghanistan: "Those who waged jihad in Afghanistan ... knew they

could, with a few RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), a few anti-tank

mines and a few Kalashnikovs, destroy the biggest military myth

humanity has ever known. The biggest military machine was smashed and

with it vanished from our minds what's called the superpower. We

believe America is much weaker than the United States, and we have

heard a lot from our brethren who fought in Somalia about the

cowardliness of the U.S. soldier, the weakness of the U.S.

soldier...."

 

- Asked about the money the United States put on his head, Bin Laden

said: "Because America worships money, it believes that people think

that way too. By Allah, I haven't changed a single man (guard) after

these reports."

 

- Bin Laden claimed the United States has carried out the "biggest

theft in history" by buying oil from Gulf countries at low prices.

According to Bin Laden, a barrel of oil today should cost $144. Based

on that calculation, he said, the Americans have stolen $36 trillion

from Muslims and they owe each member of the faith $30,000.

 

- His message to the world: "Regimes and the media want to strip us

of our manhood. We believe we are men, Muslim men. We should be the

ones defending the greatest house in the world, the blessed Kaaba ...

and not the female, both Jewish and Christian, American soldiers."

Bin Laden was referring to the U.S. troops that have deployed in

Saudi Arabia since 1990 following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

 

"The rulers in the region said the Americans would stay a few months,

but they lied from the start. ... Months passed, and the first and

second years passed and now we're in the ninth year and the Americans

lie to everyone. ... The enemy robs the owner, you tell him you're

stealing and he tells you, "It's in my interest."'

 

"Our goal is to liberate the land of Islam from the infidels and

establish the law of Allah."

 

( AP )

 

Might give a clue to what makes him tick confirms his birth in the

city of Riyadh