Australia talks bravely on bin Laden’s tapes

THE latest audiotape by Osama bin Laden only serves to remind the world just how dangerous and fanatical al-Qaeda and its leader were. Bin Laden has urged his followers to prepare for a long war against Western would-be occupiers in Sudan’s Darfur region, according to the latest audiotape attributed to him, says News.Com.au. In the tape, the Saudi-born terrorist criticises the Sudanese Government for agreeing to a US-backed peace deal for the south of that country. He also criticises the Palestinian’s Hamas-led Government for breaking what he said was a taboo against “joining infidel assemblies” and entering parliament. But he points to the isolation of Hamas as proof the West is waging war against Islam. The audiotape speaker, who sounded like bin Laden, rallied supporters to be prepared for protracted struggle in Darfur. “I call on the mujahideen and their supporters in Sudan … and the Arabian peninsula to prepare all that is necessary to wage a long-term war against the Crusaders in western Sudan,” bin Laden said, accusing the West of seeking to divide Sudan. Sudan hosted bin Laden in the 1990s, but on the tape he criticised Khartoum for not enforcing Islamic sharia law throughout the country and made clear his call to arms in Darfur is in spite of his differences with the Sudanese Government. Criticising a US-backed peace deal between Khartoum and southern rebels, bin Laden accused the US of planning to send “Crusader troops to occupy the region and steal its oil under the cover of preserving security there”. Some UN troops have arrived in southern Sudan, the first of an expected 10,000 peacekeepers to be sent there. Sudan is resisting pressure for UN peacekeepers to deploy in Darfur. Bin Laden accused Washington of fuelling strife in the Arab country. Austalian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, “my reaction is a reaction of defiance.These tapes from Osama bin Laden only reinforce my determination to fight these terrorists. It just reminds us all of the dangerous, fanatical people we’re dealing with, and the last thing we should show in a circumstance like that is weakness and defeatism. This just reminds us that this is a tough fight. This is going on, it’s going to continue to go on for a long time to come. The worst thing we should do is show weakness and hesitancy in the face of these kinds of threats.”