Osama Bin Laden Calls for Jihad Over Gaza

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Osama Bin Laden Calls for Jihad Over Gaza DUBAI: Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden called for Jihad (holy struggle) over the Israeli offensive in Gaza in a new audio tape that appeared on a websites on Wednesday.

The Saudi-born militant said the global financial crisis had exposed the waning U.S. influence in world affairs and would in turn weaken its ally Israel.

“Our brothers in Palestine, you have suffered a lot…. the Muslims sympathize with you in what they see and hear. We, the mujahideen, sympathize with you also…” bin Laden said in the tape entitled ‘A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza’.

“We are with you and we will not let you down. Our fate is tied to yours in fighting the Crusader-Zionist coalition, in fighting until victory or martyrdom.”

The Palestinian death toll from a 19-day-old Israeli offensive to crush the Hamas movement in Gaza has risen to 971, causing widespread anger among ordinary Arabs and Muslims. Israel says 13 Israelis have been killed by rockets or mortars from Gaza.

In the 22-minute tape, bin Laden said that the United States was losing its dominant position in the world and that this was due to al Qaeda’s campaign.

The authenticity of the tape, produced by al Qaeda’s media arm As-Sahab, could not immediately be verified but the voice sounded like that of bin Laden.

Bin Laden last appeared in an audio tape in May and also focused on Gaza, calling on Muslims to try to help end the blockade of the area.

The al Qaeda leader has placed growing emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent years and Wednesday’s audio tape was accompanied by a still of bin Laden and a picture of al-Aqsa mosque.

Osama Bin Laden Calls for Jihad Over Gaza

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