Osama angry with Musharraf for supporting U.S.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, NOV. 10. The alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the U.S., Osama bin Laden, has expressed anger and disappointment over the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to join the U.S. to fight against him.

In an interview to Mr. Hamid Mir, editor of the Pakistani Urdu daily, Ausaf, Osama said, ``The Government of Pakistan should have the wishes of the people in view. It should not have surrendered to the unjustified demands of America. America does not have solid proof against us. It just has some surmises. It is unjust to start bombing on the basis of those surmises.''

``We have chemical and nuclear weapons as a deterrent and if America uses them against us, we reserve the right to use them,'' he said.

Asked what he would have done if the U.S. attacked Pakistan with the help of India and Israel, Osama said, ``What has America achieved by attacking Afghanistan? We will not leave the Pakistani people and the Pakistani territory at anybody's mercy. We will defend Pakistan. But Gen. Pervez Musharraf has disappointed us. He says that the majority is with him. I say the majority is against him.''

Flanked by Egyptian militant leader, Amya Al- Zuwarhiri, Osama sounded combative and vague about his willingness for a trial. Asked whether he would agree to a trial in a third Muslim country if the U.S. withdrew from Saudi Arabia and the Al-Aqsa mosque in Israel was liberated, Osama said, ``Only Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Pakistan follows the English law. I don't consider Saudi Arabia an Islamic country. If the Americans have charges against me, we too have a chargesheet against them.''

He discounted reports that he had kidney problems. ``My kidneys are all right. I did not go to Dubai last year. One British newspaper published an imaginary interview with an Islamabad dateline with one of my sons who lives in Saudi Arabia. All this is false.''

Asked if the Taliban chief, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had married his daughter or that he had married the Taliban leader's daughter, Osama laughingly said, ``All my wives are Arabs and all my daughters are married to Arab mujahideen. I have a spiritual relationship with Mullah Omar. He is a great and brave Muslim of this age. He does not fear anyone but Allah. He is not under any personal relationship or obligation to me. He is only discharging his religious duty. I, too, have not chosen this life out of any personal consideration.''

Mr. Mir, who is also writing a biography of Osama, said that he was blindfolded and taken in a jeep from Kabul on the night of November 7 to an extremely cold place, where one could hear the sound of anti-aircraft. ``After a wait of some time, Osama arrived with about a dozen bodyguards and Dr. Ayman Al-Zuwahiri and answered questions.''

To a question about how he knew that the September 11 attacks were carried out by Muslims as claimed by him in his statement on Al-Jazeera TV on October 7, Osama said, ``The Americans themselves released a list of the suspects held for the attacks. They were all Muslims, of whom 15 were from Saudi Arabia, two from the UAE and one from Egypt. According to the information I have, they were all passengers... But America said they were hijackers.''

Asked how he could justify the attacks, Osama said, ``This is a major point in jurisprudence. In my view, if an enemy occupies a Muslim territory and uses common people as human shield, then it is permitted to attack that enemy. For instance, if bandits barge into a home and hold a child hostage, then the child's father can attack the bandits and in that attack even the child may get hurt.''

``America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir and Iraq. The Muslims have the right to attack America in reprisal. The Shariat says that Muslims should not live in the land of the infidel for long. The September 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America's icons of military and economic power. The Holy Prophet was against killing women and children. When he saw a dead woman during a war, he asked why was she killed. If a child is above 13 and wields a weapon against Muslims, then it is permitted to kill him.''

``The American people should remember that they pay taxes to their Government, they elect their President, their Government manufactures arms and gives them to Israel and Israel uses them to massacre Palestinians. The American Congress endorses all Government measures and this proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims.''

``I ask the American people to force their Government to give up anti-Muslim policies. The American people had risen against their Government's war in Vietnam. They must do the same today. The American people should stop the massacre of Muslims by their Government.''

Did it mean that he was against the American Government, not the people? ``Yes! We are carrying on the mission of our Prophet, Mohammad. The mission is to spread the word of God, not to indulge in massacring people. We ourselves are the targets of killings, destruction and atrocities. We are only defending ourselves. This is defensive jehad. We want to defend our people and our land. That is why I say that if we don't get security, the Americans too will not get security. This is a simple formula that even an American child can understand. This is the formula of live and let live.''

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