Europe—Peace, America—War

Yesterday, “Al-Arabia” and “Al-Jazeera” broadcasted another audio address of the “Al-Qaeda” leader.

This time however, instead of monotonous promises calling out to lead a ruthless fight with the unfaithful, Osama bin Laden (or someone who spoke on his behalf) decided to diversify his messages a bit. He decided to try himself as a diplomat.

Bin laden proposed armistice to the European nations, if they promise to stop “persecuting Muslims.” He undertook the responsibility for the terrorist acts on March 11th in Madrid, Spain, claiming that it was “a price for military actions of Spain in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.” However, it remains unclear what exactly he meant under “Spain's military actions in Palestine…”. The audiotape also contained the following message: “Events of September 11th and March 11th represent mere retaliatory actions to let you know that safety is an important factor for everybody.”

When proposing armistice to the Europeans, bin Laden promised to continue fighting the irreconcilable war against the US and Israel. He also threatened the latter to avenge Sheikh Yassin. The fact that militants of “Hamas” are taking too long to “drown Israel in blood” seems to drive the “Al Qaeda” leader mad.

European politicians did not take long to react to bin Laden's words. The main point of their statements could be summarized in a one single sentence: there will be no “armistice” with “Al Qaeda”. Head of Italian Ministry of International Affairs Franco Frattini has called the idea of negotiating with bin Laden simply “inconceivable”.

A spokesman from the British Ministry of International Affairs in turn has called even the idea of such talks as “absurd”. According to him, bin Laden's proposal “is meant to divide Europe and the US”. Future head of the Ministry of International Affairs of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos has stated that his country will not take into account bin Laden's words.

Interestingly, neither one of the European leaders expressed any doubts regarding the authenticity of Osama bin Laden's voice. Secret services have not been able to check the originality of the “Al Qaeda”’s leader yet.

Another aspect appears to be worth mentioning—there could not have possibly been better timing for bin Laden’s message. The new Spanish government, as it is known, intends to deploy their troops from Iraq after June 30th, when the power will be in the hands of the Iraqis.

Obviously, no European politician will ever accept bin Laden's terms. The “Al Qaeda” leader is probably fully aware of this fact. However, for some reason, he is doing everything he can to ensure that the antiterrorist coalition headed by the United States remains strong and indestructible. Well, what can we say, bin Laden is no diplomat…