Osama bin Laden demanded European countries pull their troops out of Afghanistan and warned in a new audiotape of “retaliation” against them for their alliance with the US in the war.
The al-Qaeda leader denounced NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan that have killed civilians and said in the new message released on Friday that European countries would be held accountable alongside the US unless they withdraw from the country.
“A wise person would not waste his sons and money for a gang of criminals in Washington ... In summary, we are not asking too much or an invalid demand, but it would be fair that you lift your oppression and withdraw your troops,” bin Laden said, addressing the Europeans.
The audiotape, just under five minutes long, was posted on Friday on Islamic militant Web sites. It came after a series of al-Qaeda videos last week that directly addressed Germany and threatened attacks over Berlin’s military mission in Afghanistan.
Those videos featured a little-known German-Algerian militant and have raised concerns among German authorities ahead of parliamentary elections.
The tape came as a voiceover on a video with English and German subtitles, along with a still photo of bin Laden in front of a map of Europe.
Bin Laden said US forces would soon pull out of Afghanistan, abandoning their NATO allies.
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