Once, when the pair were hiding in the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora, he said Bin Laden wrote death certificates for each one of the hijackers, fearing he would be killed "without remembering these heroic martyrs".
Once, when the pair were hiding in the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora, he said Bin Laden wrote death certificates for each one of the hijackers, fearing he would be killed "without remembering these heroic martyrs".
Initially Osama bin Laden was reported to have denied responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. Pravda carried this brief report, for instance:
Notorious international terrorist Osama Bin Laden denies his involvement in the US terrorist acts. The Pakistani Khabrein daily with reference to some Taliban sources quotes him as saying that the terrorist act was committed by some American terrorist group and that he had nothing to do with it. (Source)
That sounds emphatic, if a little remote: Pravda reporting what Khabrein say a Taliban source has told them that bin Ladin said. And the Taliban are an obvious weak link in that chain. They would not have wanted to be bombed into oblivion by the US, so had a strong incentive either to ask bin Ladin to deny responsibility, or perhaps issue it themselves.
There are other denials, too, however. The most detailed and commonly quoted comes from an interview by a Pakistani newspaper, the Daily Ummat.
The paper quoted bin Laden as saying: "Neither I nor my organisation Al-Qaida is involved in the attacks and the US has traced the attackers within America.
"The attackers could be anybody, people who are part of the American system yet rebel against it, or some group that wants to make this century a century of confrontation between Islam and Christianity," he said.
Referring to evidence obtained by American intelligence, bin laden said: "Ask this question to these intelligence agencies that get billions of dollars every year."
Ummat quotes bin Laden as saying: "We are against the American system but not the American people. Islam does not allow killing of innocent people, men, women and children even in the event of war." (Source)
Only written replies? How can anyone know who provided those, and why is it that these particular statements appear to be accepted by so many without any question at all?
Certainly the Ummat line that “Islam does not allow the killing of innocent people, men, women and children” doesn’t sit well with earlier bin Ladin interviews. Here’s what he told John Miller in 1998 (our emphasis):
PBS: Mr. bin Laden, you have issued a fatwah calling on Muslims to kill Americans where they can, when they can. Is that directed at all Americans, just the American military, just the Americans in Saudi Arabia?
bin Ladin: Allah has ordered us to glorify the truth and to defend Muslim land, especially the Arab peninsula ... against the unbelievers. After World War II, the Americans grew more unfair and more oppressive towards people in general and Muslims in particular. ... The Americans started it and retaliation and punishment should be carried out following the principle of reciprocity, especially when women and children are involved. Through history, American has not been known to differentiate between the military and the civilians or between men and women or adults and children. Those who threw atomic bombs and used the weapons of mass destruction against Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the Americans. Can the bombs differentiate between military and women and infants and children? America has no religion that can deter her from exterminating whole peoples. Your position against Muslims in Palestine is despicable and disgraceful. America has no shame. ... We believe that the worst thieves in the world today and the worst terrorists are the Americans. Nothing could stop you except perhaps retaliation in kind. We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned, they are all targets, and this is what the fatwah says .... The fatwah is general (comprehensive) and it includes all those who participate in, or help the Jewish occupiers in killing Muslims. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html
No great sympathy for civilians here, so perhaps there’s another reason for bin Ladin’s reticence in accepting responsibility for 9/11. Claiming responsibility immediately would have given America an instant pretext to attack Afghanistan, for instance, that would have been readily accepted by the rest of the world. By denying them instead bin Laden ensured a degree of uncertainty, meaning the US is more likely to be criticised if they took any action against the country.
Alternatively, bin Laden may simply have been under pressure from the Taliban to deny responsibility. After all, they had publicly said in 1998 that he was not in Afghanistan "to conduct political or military activities", and so admitting he was behind the attacks would inevitably cause serious problems:
In May 1998, when Pakistan journalist Yusufzai arranged an interview with bin Laden in Khost, Mullah Omar was enraged, apparently because bin Laden did not seek permission. Within a week, the supreme Taliban leader issued a statement that "there can be only one supreme leader of Afghanistan" and bin Laden was not in Afghanistan "to conduct political or military activities." Bin Laden immediately issued a statement, calling Mullah Omar "the commander of the faithful" and by the year's end, refused to take further interviews. http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0914/p6s1-wogi.html
bin Laden was certainly keen to defend the Taleban to Al Jazeera:
In a statement issued to the Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, bin Laden said, "The U.S. government has consistently blamed me for being behind every occasion its enemies attack it.
"I would like to assure the world that I did not plan the recent attacks, which seems to have been planned by people for personal reasons," bin Laden's statement said.
"I have been living in the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan and following its leaders' rules. The current leader does not allow me to exercise such operations," bin Laden said. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial
But as defences go, this is rather weak ("I did not plan" is a step back from saying he was not involved, and the US government position is also that he didn't plan the attacks). And Hamid Mir, bin Laden’s Pakistani biographer, revealed a very different story in an account given to Peter Bergen:
I was not ready to say that bin Laden is involved in the [9/11] attacks. You see, I was questioning the assumption that he is involved. When I visited Afghanistan, I spent some days there, I was totally changed because I saw the pictures of Atta [the lead hijacker] hanging in the [al Qaeda] hideouts. Privately they admitted everything. They said, they [who attacked on 9/11] are our brothers, but they said that “When the Americans kill Muslims in Sudan, they don’t admit that we are responsible for the attacks. When the Indians kill Kashmiris, they don’t admit that we have killed them. So now this is our turn. We have killed them and we are not going to admit that.
My tape recorder was on and one very important al Qaeda leader he turned off my tape recorder and said, “Yes, I did it. Okay. Now play your tape recorder.” I played the tape recorder and he said “No, I’m not responsible”.
Hamid Mir interview with Peter Bergen, Islamabad, May 11 2002 and March 2005 Chapter 10, The Osama bin Laden I Know, Peter L Bergen
Previous attacks
The idea that bin Laden wouldn't immediately claim responsibility is claimed to be implausible by some, however his past record shows this is how bin Ladin works. He rarely claims direct involvement, as this extract from an interview reveals:
When bin Laden's motorcade finally arrived, surrounded by motorcycles and other security personnel, a platoon of soldiers fired their weapons in the air, and a host of artillery batteries boomed from the surrounding hills as soon as bin Laden exited his car.
"It was a grand entry, like you see in the movies," says Yusufzai, whose subsequent Dec. 23, 1998, interview in the deserts near Kandahar was the last time that bin Laden met the press. In the interview, bin Laden denied responsibility for the US Embassy bombings, but praised the work of his "brothers." "He told me, 'My job is to inspire, to organize people. My job is to provoke people. I'm not doing it myself, but I'm preaching so that others will do it.' " http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0914/p6s1-wogi.html
This is a curious thing, a denial of responsibility that also seems to want to take some of the "credit". A John Miller interview from the same time spells this out a little more:
John Miller: Wali Khan Amin Shah was captured in Manila. American authorities believe he was working for you, funded by you, setting up training camps there and part of his plan was to plan out the assassination or the attempted assassination of President Clinton during his trip to Manila.
bin Ladin: Wali Khan is a Muslim young man; his nickname in Afghanistan was the Lion... He was a close friend and we used to fight from the same trenches in Afghanistan... As to what you said about him working for me, I have nothing to say. We are all together in this; we all work for Allah and our reward comes from him. As to what you said about the attempt to assassinate President Clinton, it is not surprising. What do you expect from people attacked by Clinton, whose sons and mothers have been killed by Clinton?...
John Miller: The federal government in the US. is still investigating their suspicions that you ordered and funded the attack on the US military in Al Khobar and Riyadh.
bin Ladin: We have roused the nation and the Muslim people and we have communicated to them the fatwahs of our learned scholars who the Saudi government has thrown in jail in order to please the American government for which they are agents. ... Among the young men who responded to our call are Khalid Al Said and Abdul Azeez Al... and Mahmud Al Hadi and Muslih Al Shamrani. We hope Allah receives them as holy martyrs... Yes, we have instigated and they have responded. We hope Allah grants their families solace. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html
It's not a clear claim of responsibility, but not a total denial of involvement, either. And with his refusal to comment more about Wali Khan, for instance, it's not difficult to conclude that bin Laden knew far more about these cases than he states here.
Once you've seen how he talks about previous attacks, then some of his comments about 9/11 begin to make more sense: he's not "responsible", but has incited others to take part in an attack:
"What many leaders have said so far is that America has an indication only, and not a tangible proof. They describe those brave guys who took the battle to the heart of America and destroyed its most famous economic and military landmarks.
They did this, as we understand it, and this is something we have agitated for before, as a matter of self-defense, in defense of our brothers and sons in Palestine, and to liberate our sacred religious sites/things. If inciting people to do that is terrorism, and if killing those who kill our sons is terrorism, then let history be witness that we are terrorists". http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/05/binladen.transcript/index.html
Over time many further statements were released by bin Ladin and other Al Qaeda members, variously accepting that Muslims were involved in 9/11, that they were those named by the US, or that Al Qaeda were directly responsible.
Timeline
The initial bin Laden denial of responsibility would not hold for long. Soon he was conceding the attacks came from Muslims; then he accepted that he "incited" them; finally we had the admission that this was an al Qaeda attack.
7th October 2001: bin Ladin
In this statement he appears to be saying that the attacks were committed by Muslims, and threatens the possibility of more.
When Almighty God rendered successful a convoy of Muslims, the vanguards of Islam, He allowed them to destroy the United States...
I swear by Almighty God who raised the heavens without pillars that neither the United States nor he who lives in the United States will enjoy security before we can see it as a reality in Palestine and before all the infidel armies leave the land of Mohammed, may God's peace and blessing be upon him. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1585636.stm
October 9th, 2001: Suleiman Abu-Ghaith
Just in case that’s not enough, another Al Qaeda spokesman makes the threat explicit:
"He issued a chilling warning to the U.S., saying there would be no peace until it stops supporting Israel and ends blockades against Iraq.
"The youths who did what they did and destroyed America, they have done a good deed," he said. "The storm of airplanes will not stop. There are thousands of young people who look forward to death like the Americans look forward to living." www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2001/10/09/alqaeda_warn011009.html
14th October: Suleiman Abu Ghaith
And the same message is repeated a few days later. Why would someone who knew nothing of, and disagreed with the attacks threaten more?
Finally, I address the US secretary of state, who cast doubt about my previous statement and downplayed what we said that there are thousands of Muslim youths who are eager to die and that the aircraft storm will not stop, God willing.
"Powell, and others in the US administration, know that if al-Qaeda organisation promises or threatens, it fulfils its promise or threat, God willing.
"Therefore, we tell him tomorrow is not far for he who waits for it. What will happen is what you are going to see and not what you hear.
"And the storms will not calm, especially the aircraft storm...
We also say and advise the Muslims in the United States and Britain, the children, and those who reject the unjust US policy not to travel by plane.
"Those who carried out the act (September 11) were not 19 Arab countries... they were 19 secondary school students..." He then went on to say how they should all become martyrs, ie: "Another, Muhammed Atta came from Egypt. We beseech God to accept them all as martyrs". www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ladin_122701.pdf
February 2002, bin Ladin:
Now he appears to be accepting that the attacks were carried out by the Muslims named by America, but claims he did no more than "incite" them:
"What many leaders have said so far is that America has an indication only, and not a tangible proof. They describe those brave guys who took the battle to the heart of America and destroyed its most famous economic and military landmarks.
They did this, as we understand it, and this is something we have agitated for before, as a matter of self-defense, in defense of our brothers and sons in Palestine, and to liberate our sacred religious sites/things. If inciting people to do that is terrorism, and if killing those who kill our sons is terrorism, then let history be witness that we are terrorists". http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/05/binladen.transcript/index.html
April 4th, 2002: al Qaeda statement
The first charge of the heroes of the New York and Washington attacks was obedience to all of their orders, an obedience that was established before their departure to the enemy's land, beginning with the hero Ahmad al-Ghamdi, may Allah almighty have mercy on him...
We have put forth this directive in order to deliver a new blow to America and to expose to the world the fallacy of the American propaganda which claims it has irrefutable evidence regarding the warriors (mujahideen) who carried out the operation. It claims it has twenty-four thousand threads leading to knowledge of the agents of the operation. But what appears to it as evidence is weaker than a spider's web, and the American case cannot rely upon it to indict the suspects, let alone convince the world with it. In this directive we say to America that hiding all trace of the agents of the operation was not something we considered. Rather, some of the heroes were intent on leaving Islamic fingerprints on the operation. This is a new blow received by the American security agency that has looked here and there in confusion unlike anything ever seen before. On account of the hunt for a trace of the heroes who entered their country, noses have sniffed with honor and pride.
[there then follows a lengthy justification explaining why they claim the attacks were permissible under Islam]
These comments about the permissibility of the martyrdom operations in the attack of New York and Washington are taken from the book The Truth about the New Crusader War. Whoever wants further evidence and a detailed discussion of the matter should consult the entire book. http://web.archive.org/web/20060602024208/http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol10/alqaeda.html
Statements like “hiding all trace of the agents of the operation was not something we considered” are obvious indicators of their involvement, as of course is the effort to justify them in the first place.
"For the first time, one of the 19 suicide hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks has been shown explaining his motives, with the broadcast yesterday by an Arab television network of a videotape made last year by a man identified as a Saudi conspirator.
The Qatar-based al-Jazeera station named the man as Ahmed al-Haznawi - a hijacker on United Airlines flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11. He is shown angrily reciting a prepared statement, which al-Jazeera described as a last will and testament". www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,685127,00.html
Undated, believed to be 2002, "Sulayman Abu Ghayth"
For what reason do we fight America?
Why is the world surprised and astonished?! For what reason were millions of people baffled by what happened to America on September 11, 2001; did the world really think that something other than this [would happen] or did the world expect something less than that? What happened to America constituted a natural matter and an expected event for a nation that has pursued a manner of terror, a policy of aggrandizement, and the law of force against nations and peoples, and imposed a single way, thought, and manner of life as if all people were employed in its government bureaus or were serving its companies and its economic establishments...
As for the justifications from which we, as an organisation, proceed and build our activities, plan out our direction and our manner of operation, these are operational and factual justifications that take into account happenings and readings of events. These are also knowledge-based and legal justifications that gives us feelings of assurance and certainties that what we are doing is for the aid of our religion and our community. It is not my purpose to record these justifications merely in order to justify what happened, but also to place them before you as a token of assurance that we will continue to strike the Americans and the Jews and to target them, whether as human targets or as institutions. What will come upon the Americans will not be any less than what has already come, so let America expect and prepare. It should take steps to prepare and tighten its seatbelts because we will come to it from a place they do not expect... "Under the Shadow of the Spears", "Inside Jihad", David Cook
September 10th, 2002: bin Ladin and others
"Two days before the anniversary of the September attacks and at a time the U.S. is using its war on terror to launch an attack against Iraq, Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite channel on Monday, September 9, aired video-clips in which it says Osama bin Ladin claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks on the United States"...
Apart from Atta, bin Ladin named Lebanese Ziyad al-Jarrah, Marwan al-Shehhi from the United Arab Emirates, “who destroyed the second tower” of the World Trade Center, and Hani Hanjour (from the Saudi city of Taef) “who destroyed the Pentagon.”
Al-Jazeera showed photographs of Hamza al-Ghamdi (alias Julailib al-Ghamdi), Saeed al-Ghamdi (alias Mutaz al-Ghamdi), Wael al-Shehri (alias Abu Suleiman) and Ahmad Naami (Abu Hisham), whose names, like those cited by bin Ladin, figure on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) list of hijackers.
Al-Jazeera also aired footage of one of the hijackers saying in his “will” that he was trained by Laden.
“May God reward all those who trained me and made possible this glorious act, notably the fighter and mujahid (Islamic warrior) Osama bin Ladin, God protect him,” said Saudi kamikaze Abdul Aziz al-Omari.
Al-Omari, who according to the FBI was one of five hijackers who slammed an American Airlines Boeing 767 into the north tower of the World Trade Center, was shown wearing a grey robe with his shoulder-length hair turbaned in a keffiyeh (chequered headdress).
The September 11 attacks were “a message to all infidels and to America to leave the Arabian peninsula and stop supporting the cowardly Jews in Palestine,” he said.
October 2002: Ramzi Binalshibh and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
In an interview by Al Jazeera reporter Yosri Fouda, Ramzi Binalshibh and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed admit responsibility for 9/11, and describe their planning. These interviews were audiotaped, and segments broadcast on Al Jazeera.
“Immediately, Khalid introduces himself as head of the military committee of Al Qaeda,” says Fouda. “That committee actually was the arm of Al Qaeda, which decided, first of all, according to Khalid, to strike America inside America and to eventually choose the targets, which were actually hit on Sept. 11.” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/08/60II/main524794.shtml
In the second part of a documentary aired by the Arabic television news network Al-Jazeera, two al Qaeda terrorists wanted by the United States give an account of their planning of the September 11 attacks and describe the actions of some of the main hijackers in their final days...
About three weeks before September 11, targets were assigned to four teams, with three of them bearing a code name: The U.S. Capitol was called "The Faculty of Law;" the Pentagon became "The Faculty of Fine Arts;" and the North Tower of the World Trade Center was code-named by Atta as "The Faculty of Town Planning."
One of the terrorists, Abu Abdul Rahman, pretended to send a love message via an Internet chat room to his German girlfriend, who was actually Binalshibh. It contained more code for the attacks:
"The first semester commences in three weeks. Two high schools and two universities. ... This summer will surely be hot ...19 [the eventual number of hijackers] certificates for private education and four exams. Regards to the professor. Goodbye."
Soon after, Fouda says, the hijackers began "moving fast," picking the flights to be hijacked, choosing ones involving large planes with "maximum volume of fuel and best punctuality."
...because of the way they oppress us in the Muslim world, especially in Palestine and Iraq, and because of their occupation of the Land of the Two Holy Places... the Mujahideen... decided to act in secret and to move the battle right into his [the U.S. president's] country and his own territory.
They carried out the raid by means of enemy planes in a courageous and splendid operation the like of which mankind had never before witnessed. They smashed the American idols and damaged its very heart, the Pentagon. They struck the very heart of the American economy, rubbed America's nose in the dirt and dragged its pride through the mud. The towers of New York collapsed, and their collapse precipitated an even greater debacle: the collapse of the myth of America the great power and the collapse of the myth of democracy; people began to understand that American values could sink no lower. The myth of the land of freedom was destroyed, the myth of American National security was smashed and the myth of the CIA collapsed, all praise and thanks to Allah. Memri.org (Web Archive) www.robert-fisk.com (Web Archive)
May 2003: Ayman Al Zawahiri
Learn from your 19 brothers who attacked America in its planes in New York and Washington and caused it a tribulation that it never witnessed before and is still suffering from its injuries until today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3047903.stm
September 21, 2003: Abu Muhammad al-Ablaj
Abu Muhammad al-Ablaj, "the man in charge of training in al-Qa'ida", describes bin Ladin as "the one who destroyed its economic pride, sullied its military dignity and wrecked the impregnable Pentagon fortress". Also says of "The September Team": the soldiers of The Most Gracious who implemented are gone to their Lord in that regiment. The brains that plan still remain". http://www.why-war.com/news/2003/09/21/alqaidas.html
August 2004: Abu-Jandal
The former personal bodyguard of bin Ladin and leading Al Quaeda member in Yemen says "among the elements that carried out the September incidents I knew Muhammed Atta..." http://www.why-war.com/news/2004/08/03/binladin.html
October 30th 2004: bin Ladin
I say to you, Allah knows that it had never occurred to us to strike the towers. But after it became unbearable and we witnessed the oppression and tyranny of the American/Israeli coalition against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, it came to my mind..."
"And as I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish the oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children" http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/1964.cfm
September 12th 2005: American Al-Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn:
Four years after the blessed raids on New York and Washington, we find the people of the West continuing to speculate about the causes and objectives which lie behind those historic events and subsequent developments. We find them in disagreement over the nature of the people who carry out operations like those on September 11th, March 11th, and July 7th, the nature of their motives, and the nature of the demands they harbor, if any. And most crucially, and as a result of their speculation and disagreement, we find them uncertain about which steps or actions they must take to achieve the restoration of the security they once enjoyed.
Allah is our witness that the numerous audio and videotapes issued by Sheikh Osama bin Ladin, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the other leaders of the jihad have... been released to explain and propound the nature and goals of the worldwide jihad against America and the Crusaders and convey our legitimate demands to friend and foe alike...
As Sheikh Osama has told you repeatedly, your security is dependent on our security. You can't have one without the other. If you ensure our security, you will have automatically ensured your own. MEMRI TV (Web Archive copy)
May 24th 2006: bin Ladin (unconfirmed?):
Zacarias Moussaoui's role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was fiercely debated at his recent death penalty trial, with the al-Qaeda conspirator and prosecutors agreeing that he was to fly a fifth hijacked airplane into the White House and defense lawyers insisting he was lying.
Now, someone who ought to know has weighed in: Osama bin Laden.
The fugitive al-Qaeda leader issued a videotape yesterday in which he claims that Moussaoui had "no connection whatsoever with the events of September 11" and that he knows this because "I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers, Allah have mercy upon them, with those raids."
Bin Laden also says in the 4-minute, 34-second message that the hundreds of prisoners the U.S. military is holding at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "have no connection whatsoever to the events of Sept. 11 and even stranger is that many of them have no connection with al-Qaeda in the first place."
It cannot be determined whether bin Laden is telling the truth, and a U.S. counterterrorism official said the tape is being analyzed. But the official said there is "no reason to doubt that it's real" and that it "was obviously done in recent weeks." The official said analysts believe that as in other recent al-Qaeda releases, bin Laden is trying "to appear relevant and to demonstrate that he's knowledgeable about current events." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/23/AR2006052301262.html
June 13th 2006: Al Qaeda statement:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A Saudi militant killed in 2004 was due to have been the 20th suicide plane hijacker in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, al-Qaida’s media arm said in a statement on the Internet on Tuesday.
“Turki bin Fheid al-Muteiri -- Fawaz al-Nashmi -- may God accept him as a martyr (was) the one chosen by Sheikh Osama bin Laden to be the martyrdom-seeker number 20 in the raid on September 11, 2001,” the statement said.
Realities of the Conflict Between Islam and Unbelief
Shaykh Ayman al-Zawahiri
December 2006
You must realize that a new period of world history has begun. The period of the offspring of Abd al-Aziz Al-Sa’ud, the grandsons of the Sharif Husayn and Sadat, Mubarak and Arafat has passed, and the period of Khalid Islambouli, Abdullah Azzam, Abu Hafs the Commander, Khattab, Muhammad Atta, Muhammad Siddique Khan, and Shehzad Tanwir (Allah have mercy on them) has begun. And if you are unable to comprehend this transformation, then blame no one but yourselves. http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/zawahiri_122006.asp
November 2007: bin Laden statement:
On 29th November 2007, al Jazeera aired a portion of a bin Laden tape (YouTube) containing the following statement:
Laura Mansfield translation:
The truth is, as I mentioned before, that the events in Manhattan (9/11) were a reaction to the American-Israeli coalition killing of our people in Palestine and Lebanon and that I am solely responsible for. I assure you that all the Afghans, government and people, were not at all aware of any of these events. America is well aware of this fact.
Some of the Taliban ministers fell captive in their hands, they were interrogated and they told the Americans the truth. This is why the Taliban government asked America before the invasion to provide them with proof but they couldn’t provide any proof. They insisted on the invasion and Europe followed their lead and they decided to play as their tail. It is enough to point out that you (Europeans) got in to this war and the American soldiers were exempt from being tried in European courts and this is why my message is addressed to you and not to your politicians.
At the end I would like to remind you that this American deployment is coming to end by the blessing of God and they will go back to their homelands beyond the Atlantic and they will leave the neighbors to finish off their interests among themselves. It is better for you to address these issues with your politicians who are begging at the doorsteps of the White House and work hard on lifting the injustice on the oppressed. Justice is the right thing to do, injustice is suffering. Going back to righteousness is the characteristic of those who think wise; peace be upon those who follow the right path. http://www.lauramansfield.com/pt/blog/default.aspx?id=18&t=As-Sahab-releases-Bin-Laden-tape-on-inte http://www.lauramansfield.com/pt/blog/default.aspx?id=17&t=Paraphrasing-Bin-Laden-The-Afghans-did
Full transcript of the original English subtitles:
All praise is for Allah, who didn't create the Creation for nothing and didn't leave them in vain, but rather, created them to worship Him, and intelligent people obey him and miserable ones disobey him.
As for what comes after: This message of mine is to the peoples of the states allied to America in the invasion of Afghanistan, and I mention specifically Europe.
Peace be on those who follow the guidance:
It isn't hidden from you that the Afghans have tasted the two bitterest things for two decades at the hands of the Russians and their Communist agents, but they persevered, fought and were resolute and victorious, by the Grace of Allah. And before their wounds had healed and their grief had ended, they were invaded without right by your unjust governments, without stopping to think about or reflect on Bush's claim that this invasion was a response to the events of the 11th, although - as I mentioned previously - the events of Manhattan were a response to the American-Israeli coalition's murder of our people in Palestine and Lebanon.
And it was I who was responsible for 9/11, and I stress that all Afghans - both government and people - had no knowledge of those events, and America knows that, because some of the Taliban's ministers fell into its hands as captives, and they were interrogated and that became known. And that's why the Taliban government requested America to produce the evidence for the truth of its claims prior to the invasion, but it didn't produce any evidence, and instead insisted on invading; and Europe marched behind it in that, and had no choice but to be its vassal.
It suffices as evidence of this your entering of this war and your excusing of American soldiers from being held to account by the European courts. For this reason, this address of mine is to you, not to your politicians, as it is no longer a secret that Blair, Brown, Berlusconi, Aznar, Sarkozy and those with him and their like love to shade themselves in the shade of the White house. And there isn't a major difference worth mentioning between them and many of the leaders of the Third World.
So to summarize, in this war you have combined two injustices:
The first is that this war was waged against the Afghans without right. You didn;t have even one piece of evidence suitable for submission to a court. Additionally, you destroyed the camps of al-Qaida and killed some of its members, and you captured others, most of who were from Pakistan. So what is the sin of the Afghans due to which you are continuing this unjust war against them? Their only sin is that they are Muslims, and this illustrates the extent of the Crusaders' hatred of Islam and its people.
Second, in this war, you have not observed the ethics and protocol of warfare. Most of your victims - as a result of the bombing - are women and children, and intentionally so. You know that our women don't fight, yet you target them even on days of celebration, knowingly and adamantly, hoping by that to break the morale of the Mujahideen. This will not benefit you, however, for we are resolute and, by the grace of Allah, the Glorious and Great, continuing to take revenge on the unjust and expel the occupying invaders. I have personally witnessed incidents like these, and the matter continues on an almost daily basis, and the hospitals are full of innocent people. You have no religions, morals, humanity or shame.
And for your information, the Afghan people are a courageous, defiant, jealous, honorable, religious Muslim people who refuse humilation and submission to invaders. And their history is rich in resolve and victories. They fought Britain in its glory days and defeated it by the grace of Allah, and fought the Russians in their glory days as well and defeated them by the grace of Allah. And today, they are fighting America and its agents under the leadership of the Commander of the Believers, Mulla Umar, may Allah protect him, and under the command of the Knight of the Field, Hajji Mansoor Dadullah. I ask Allah, the Most High, to grant them victory and resolve.
In conclusion, I remind you that the American tide is ebbing, by the grace of Allah, and that they shall soon depart for their homeland beyond the Atlantic and leave the neighbours to settle their accounts with each other. So it is better for you to restrain your politicians who are thronging the steps of the White House and work diligently to remove oppression from the oppressed, for justice is right and injustice is torment, and returning to the truth is the hallmark of men of understanding. And peace be on those who follow the guidance.
April 2008: Ayman al-Zawahiri:
Al-Zawahiri also denied a conspiracy theory that Israel carried out the September 11 attacks on the U.S., and he blamed Iran and Shiite Hezbollah for spreading the idea to discredit the Sunni al Qaeda's achievement.
Al-Zawahiri accused Hezbollah's al-Manar television of starting the rumor.
"The purpose of this lie is clear: [to suggest] that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no else did in history. Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it," he said.
"Iran's aim here is also clear: to cover up its involvement with America in invading the homes of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq," he added. CNN (Web Archive copy)
July 2008: Senior al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid:
(Our emphasis):
Al-Qaeda commander claims responsibility for 9/11 attacks
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Accuses Pakistan of inflicting more damage on his organisation; Mustafa says al-Qaeda men also attacked Danish embassy in Islamabad
KARACHI: Senior al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid has claimed in an exclusive interview with Geo News that Pakistan has damaged the terrorist organisation more than any other country.
The operational chief of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan also said that the recent attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad was conducted by his organisation. He also claimed that al-Qaeda was growing in strength in Afghanistan and would soon occupy the entire country.
He strongly debunked the view that al-Qaeda was actually protecting American interests and said it carried out the 9/11 attacks on the US and that 19 of its supporters launched the devastating attacks. He added that many of his comrades were involved in training the hijackers.
These comments were made in an interview with Najeeb Ahmed that was broadcast on Monday on Geo TV's Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Saath programme. This was the first detailed interview in five years of a senior al-Qaeda leader.
The 53-year-old Mustafa Abu al-Yazid is also known by the name of Sheikh Saeed. He was born on Dec 17, 1955 in Egypt. In 1981, he was incarcerated for three years in connection with the assassination of the then Egyptian president Anwar Saadat. In 1988, he became a member of al-Qaeda and went to Afghanistan. Later, in 1991, he moved to Sudan where he worked for Osama bin Laden as an accountant. By 1996 he returned to Afghanistan and taken over the responsibility of handling al-Qaeda's finances.
Mustafa Abu al-Yazid had claimed his organisation's responsibility for Benazir Bhutto's assassination in Dec 2007. In his interview, Al-Yazid said the morale of fighters in Afghanistan is very high and they are putting up a tough fight against US troops. He said the resistance is gathering momentum and has become unstoppable. Listing the attacks launched by al-Qaeda, he took credit for the attacks on US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. He said the Karzai government would meet the same fate as other 'traitors'. There is no government that supports al-Qaeda as the rulers have sold their faith and by doing so they have put themselves beyond the pale of Islam.
In his view, the government that has damaged the Mujahideen the most is Pakistan's. Pervez Musharraf first inflicted suffering on the Mujahideen of the neighbouring country. He claimed that it was because of the sacrifices of the Mujahideen that Russia was unable to enter Pakistan. Musharraf's men arrested and subjected them to violence and handed them over to the Americans. What is a bigger example of collaboration with the infidels than this? This is a crime that can never be forgotten, he said.
According to him, it was a matter of great honour that his supporters launched an attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad. He congratulated his comrades for successfully executing this mission. He said they had picked a time to attack when there were no innocent Muslims in the vicinity. In any case, there was strict security around the embassy and it was not possible for ordinary Muslims to come near it.
He said many eminent Islamic scholars have justified the practice of suicide bombing. The official Maulvis parrot those Fatwa that they are told to. He said the aim is to engage in direct combat but in many places it is not possible to reach the enemy. He maintained that it is not legitimate to target mosques in this way. He denied al-Qaeda's hand in the attack on Aftab Sherpao in a mosque, saying his supporters never target mosques. A statement to this effect was issued to the Pakistani press soon after the attack. He condemned violence near or inside mosques and said defending the sanctity of such places of worship is every Muslim's duty. He paid tributes to Khalid Sheikh and termed him a fearless person who the Muslim Ummah is proud of. He prayed that God's curse fall on the government that handed him over to the US.
Reuters adds: The suicide bomber who carried out an attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad last month came from Makkah, an al-Qaeda leader said in a rare interview with Geo News.
It was unclear, from what Yazid said, whether the embassy bomber was a Saudi, as many non-Saudis have settled in Makkah, or whether he had been recruited while visiting the city. Yazid said the bomber had come to join a Jihad in held Kashmir or Afghanistan, but became enraged by the publication of blasphemous cartoons in Danish newspapers in 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20080804105804/http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=16144
September 2009: Possible bin Laden:
An audio message purportedly from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has accused President Barack Obama of being unable to fulfil his election pledge to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.
The tape emerged on radical Islamist Web sites, just two days after the United States marked the eighth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"To the American people, this is my message to you: a reminder of the reasons behind 9/11 and the wars and the repercussions that followed and the way to resolve it," the message said.
"From the beginning, we have stated many times ... that the cause of our disagreement with you is your support of your allies, the Israelis, who are occupying our land in Palestine. Your stance along with some other grievances are what led us to carry out the events of 9/11."
The video plays the audio over a undated photograph of bin Laden. The video also shows a banner with the American flag as the backdrop and an image of the New York City skyline with the twin towers of the World Trade Center -- destroyed in the 9/11 attack -- still standing, said terrorism analyst Laura Mansfield.
Bin Laden, he said, did not want those who carried out the September 11 attacks - which killed nearly 3,000 people - to be forgotten.
"The sheikh would remember with goodness and gratitude and be moved by the memory of the 19 brothers who attacked the idol of our age, America," Zawahiri said. "He would remember these brothers with extreme fidelity."
Once, when the pair were hiding in the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora, he said Bin Laden wrote death certificates for each one of the hijackers, fearing he would be killed "without remembering these heroic martyrs".
Bin Laden's October 2001 interview with Al Jazeera includes lengthy discussions on the attacks.
al Qaeda Videos
al Qaeda claims of responsibility for 9/11 are based on more than just words. They've also released videos about the attacks.
They (or bin Laden) named and spoke about the hijackers in "The Nineteen Martyrs".
The "Knowledge is for Acting Upon: The Manhattan Raid" video named Ramzi Binalshibh as the "coordinator of the attacks" and "Zakariyya al-Housawi" as the "head of logistical support", then discussed planning, training, and more.
And in November 2007 a bin Laden audio tape was played on al Jazeera, where he essentially said Afghanistan should not have been invaded in response to 9/11 because the attacks were his responsibility.
Hijackers video wills
Since 9/11, al-Qaeda have released footage of several of the hijackers. These include a number of video wills, where they talk about jihad and attacking America. Reportedly all but one of the hijackers made a will, so we'd anticipate that others will appear in future 9/11 anniversary releases.