Osama bin Laden

Dubai, April 15 (Reuters): An audio tape purportedly by Osama bin Laden and aired on Arab TV today offered a truce to Europeans if they withdrew troops from Muslim nations but vowed to continue fighting the US and Israel.

The voice on the tape, which a CIA official said is “likely” bin Laden, also said the March 11 train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people were retaliation for Spain’s role in Iraq, Afghanistan and with the Palestinians.

“I offer a truce to them (Europe) with a commitment to stop operations against any state which vows to stop attacking Muslims or interfere in their affairs,” the man said on the tape aired by al Arabiya and al Jazeera channels.

“The announcement of the truce starts with the withdrawal of the last soldier from our land and the door is open for three months from the date of the announcement of this statement.

“Whoever rejects this truce and wants war, we are its (war’s) sons and whoever wants this truce, here we bring it.” Security analysts said bin Laden was manoeuvring to split the US-led coalition and scare wavering members out of Iraq.

They said the tape was aimed at fears among Western publics that their governments’ pro-US policies are placing them at risk. It also looked like an attempt to exploit transatlantic differences over the West Asia peace process.

“Al Qaida’s signature tactic is divide-and-conquer,” an Israeli intelligence source said. “Al Qaida wants to erode the western coalition against terror from within by playing the allies off against each other. It already worked in Madrid.”

Several European states rejected the purported truce offer.

French President Jacques Chirac said there can be no “bargaining with terrorists”. Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini said it was “completely unthinkable” to talk with the al Qaida leader and European Commission President Romano Prodi said there would be no negotiating under a “terrorist threat”.

Britain said the right response was to “continue to fight terrorism”. Germany said it would not negotiate with“criminals” like bin Laden. A CIA official said in Washington agency analysis of the tape determined it is likely the al Qaida leader.

“What is clear from the message is that the tape was probably recorded in the last several weeks,” the official said, given the reference to the death of Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin in March in Gaza.

The Saudi-born fugitive blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks on US cities is believed to be in hiding somewhere in Afghanistan or the Pakistan frontier.

“President (George W.) Bush and leaders in his sphere, big media institutions and the United Nations... all of them are a fatal danger to the world, and the Zionist lobby is their most dangerous and difficult member, and we insist, God willing, on continuing to fight them,” the man on the tape said.

“Our actions come in response to your actions of destroying and killing our people in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. It is enough to witness the event that shocked the world, the killing of the elderly, wheelchair-bound Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, God have mercy on him, and we pledge to God to take revenge on America,” the man on the tape said.

“What happened on September 11 and March 11 are your goods returned to you so that you know security is a necessity for all.”