Bin Laden message warns France to pull out of Afghanistan

[Still a Democrat]

Source: CNN

A speaker claiming to be terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden warned in an audiotape aired Friday that the release of two French journalists abducted by militants hinges on France's military role in Afghanistan.

"We repeat the same message to you," said the speaker in an audio tape played on the Al-Jazeera satellite news network. "The release of your prisoners from the hands of our brethren depends on the withdrawal of your soldiers from our countries."

The speaker, believed to be al Qaeda chief bin Laden, warns the French government that its alliance with the United States will prove costly.

...

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/21/afghanistan.france.bin.laden/?hpt=Sbin

[Iggo]

1. Yeah. Bin Laden.

:eyes:

[bhikkhu]

2. "believed to be al Qaeda chief bin Laden"

believed by who?

[Turborama]

3. NYT: French Affirm Afghan Mission After New Threat

By SCOTT SAYARE
Published: January 21, 2011

PARIS — An new audio message attributed to Osama bin Laden warning that the fate of seven French hostages would hinge on the withdrawal of French forces from Afghanistan has prompted the French government to affirm its commitment there.

“We are determined to pursue our action in favor of the Afghan people, with our allies,” Bernard Valero, the foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters on Friday. About 3,750 French soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan.

The French hostages are in North Africa and Afghanistan, held by Islamic militants with links to Mr. bin Laden.

The warning on the tape was blunt. “President Nicolas Sarkozy’s refusal to remove his forces from Afghanistan is nothing but a green light for killing the French hostages,” a voice identified as that of Mr. bin Laden said in the recording, broadcast on Friday on Al Jazeera. “We repeat the same message to you: the release of your prisoners in the hands of our brothers is linked to the withdrawal of your soldiers from our country. The size of your debts and the weakness of your budget will not allow you to open a new front,” the message added mockingly.

Mr. Valero said French authorities were in the process of authenticating the recording. Mr. bin Laden made similar threats against France in a recording released in October, also condemning the country’s controversial law banning the wearing of facial veils in public.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/world/asia/22binladen.html?_r=1

[earcandle]

4. Benazir Bhutto told us Osama bin Laden was already dead in a David Frost interview.

Can't keep milking him as scapegoat for the Bush-Cheney kill
America plot. 

[NorthCarolina]

5. New rule: You can only bring Bin Laden out during Halloween,

since he's undoubtedly a skeleton by now.

[No Elephants]

6. Audio? He used to love videos. He's been camera shy for years. Wonder why?

Speaking of cameras, is that even him in the photo that appears in the OP article?

[Alamuti Lotus]

7. videos give too many clues as to whereabouts of the actors

it seems like paranoid nonsense, but it really isn't -- the arrangement of scenery on an outdoor shot can give enough clues for an intelligence analyst (or rather, his/her computers) to search for analogous locations using satellites and spy drones. Sheikh Ussamah found this out early in the war when his bodyguards noticed increased activity in his area whenever a video was released. They first staggered the release of videos to the usual sources (or gave instructions to delay the broadcast) to allow ample time to relocate, but frequently used areas and safe-houses became known to the US & Pakistani militaries based on satellites picking up their locations or with spies betraying the (un-)safe-houses frequently used.
Audio releases can still give some clues to the obsessed analyst (particularly in a city), but nothing like an outdoor video shoot as he prefers.

[pinniped]

8. Surprised it wasn't released (tweeted) on Twitter