An audio recording attributed to Osama bin Laden offered rewards in gold for the killing of top US and UN officials in Iraq or of the citizens of any nation fighting there, including Japan and Italy.
The 20-minute recording, dated Thursday, appeared on two Web sites known for militant Islamic messages. The voice sounded like that of bin Laden and the words were laden with Koranic verse, but the authenticity of the recording could not immediately be verified.
The CIA is looking into the statement, a spokesman said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
"You know that America promised big rewards for those who kill mujahedeen," the speaker said. "We in al-Qaeda organization will guarantee, God willing, 10,000 grams of gold to whoever kills the occupier Bremer, or the American chief commander or his deputy in Iraq."
He was referring to Paul Bremer, the chief US administrator in Iraq, and top military officials.
"For security reasons, the rewards will be given as soon as conditions permit, God willing," the voice said. "As for those who die while killing an occupying solider, the great prize will be for us and for him when God grants him martyrdom, and the smaller prize [the gold] will be for his family."
The US has offered rewards of its own for information leading to the captures or deaths of bin Laden and his top lieutenants, as well as for top figures in the former Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. The price on bin Laden's head now stands at US$50 million -- far more than the nearly US$125,000 that 10,000 grams of gold is worth.
The recording promised the same reward for the deaths of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi.
"The United Nations is nothing but a Zionists' tool, even if it worked under the cover of providing humanitarian aid," the voice said. "Whoever kills Kofi Annan or the head of his commission in Iraq or a representative like Lakhdar Brahimi, he will be awarded the same prize of 10,000 grams of gold."
The speaker promised a lesser prize -- 1,000 grams of gold -- to anyone killing a citizen of countries he called "the masters of the veto like Americans and Britons" -- a reference to nations with veto power on the U.N. Security Council.
And he offered 500 grams of gold to anyone killing citizens of countries he called "slaves of the Security Council who are in Iraq, like Japan and Italy."
The context indicated the rewards applied to citizens of those countries who are in Iraq.
With gold selling Thursday on London exchanges for US$387.60 a troy ounce, 10,000 grams of gold was valued at US$124,630, 1,000 grams at US$12,463, and 500 grams at US$6,231.
It appeared to be the first publicized offer by Bin Laden for rewards for the deaths of his enemies. However, a US joint congressional intelligence panel said in a report two years ago that bin Laden had agreed in 1998 to allocate US$9 million in reward money for the assassination of top US intelligence agency officers.
Bin Laden had never been known to offer rewards for missions he had described as followers' religious duty to carry out.
The recordings appeared on Web sites for the Ansar Islam Forum and the Islamic Research Center. Both are clearing-houses for statements by al-Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups. The forum also has a bulletin board on which extremists chat and comment on the statements.
The speaker denounced US plans to hand sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30, calling them a trick to end the resistance that has killed hundreds of US soldiers.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of