New bin Laden Tape Surfaces

James Joyner | Thursday, December 16, 2004

Purported new bin Laden tape surfaces (CNN)

A new audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden and referencing the December 6 attack on the American consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, appeared on Arabic Web sites Thursday. The voice on the tape says the current instability in Saudi Arabia is due to the regime there and not the action of the jihadis there. “While the struggle in Saudi Arabia appears to be internal, it is part of the struggle between believers and non-believers” of Islam, the speaker said.

Near the end of the approximately 70-minute tape, the speaker asks for God’s blessings for “our brothers who stormed the American consulate in Jeddah.” “We pray to Allah to accept the mujahedeen who stormed the U.S. consulate in Jeddah as martyrs,” the speaker says. Also on the tape is deep criticism of the Saudi royal family. “Millions are suffering poverty, while rials (Saudi currency) pour into the hands of the Saudi royal family.”

The quality of the recording is poor, but al Qaeda expert Paul Eedle says the voice seems to be that of bin Laden.

It’s certainly the al Qaeda party line. And he has a point on the Saudi royals.

About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.

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UBL is taking his shots at the Al-Saud (though it's rather broad and totally ignores the support that family has in the kingdom).

His real point here, though, is to offer religious argument against representative government. According to his intepretation of Islam, elections are sin. Man (as a voter) cannot exercise the authority to govern that is reserved to God and those God delegates.

He's condemning not only the upcoming Saudi elections, but also those in Iraq and Palestine. He fears that once people get a taste of democracy, they're not going to be buying into his "Divine Right of Caliphs" vision.

Posted by John | December 16, 2004 | 11:22 am | Permalink

 

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