Amid reports of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden's disappearance, he has urged Pakistan to "repel the US Crusader forces" poised to strike at Afghanistan, Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite television reported Monday.
Bin Laden's comments came in a statement the station received by fax on Monday, in which he vowed to "press ahead with jihad (holy war) against the tyranny of the United States and its allies."
Bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks that leveled New York's World Trade Center and removed one of the Pentagon's sides, described US President George W. Bush as "a Crusader."
"We incite our Muslim brethren in Pakistan to prevent the American Crusader forces from invading Pakistan and Afghanistan with all means at their disposal," the millionaire Islamist, who is wanted for terrorism by the US, was reported to have said in the statement.
The statement said he "regretted" the deaths Friday of four protestors in Karachi "while expressing their rejection of the aggression on the Muslims' lands in Pakistan and Afghanistan by the American Crusader forces and their allies."
It is no wonder that "the Muslim nation of Pakistan rose up in defense of Islam," bin Laden reportedly said in a reference to protests against the anticipated use of Pakistan as a springboard for the US offensive against Afghanistan.
"We hope these brethren will turn out to be the first martyrs in Islam's battle ... against the new Crusader-Jewish campaign led by the foremost Crusader [US President George W. Bush]," the statement added.
Bin Laden was quoted as promising to look after the children of the protesters killed in Karachi, and he went on to pledge to "remain on the path of jihad ... with the heroic Afghan people" under the command of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
It was unclear where the fax came from, nor could the authenticity of the text, which Al Jazeera also faxed on to AFP, could be established. It is signed "Osama bin Mohammad," the name of his father, under his own name typed in Arabic, AFP reported.
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia, who provided a safe haven for the Saudi dissident, had announced his disappearance a day earlier - Albawaba.com
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