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Senior al-Qaeda General Says Christians Worship 'Idol'THE
AFFILIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON – In videotaped statements, al-Qaeda Lt. Gen. Muhammad Talal al-Jafar
al Tallani Ackbar al-Walid, al-Qaeda's Deputy Under-Emir for Defensive
Intelligence and Holy War Operations, characterized the battle with
the United States as a fight with "Satan," saying they
sought to destroy Arabs and Muslims "because we're an Islamic
nation." The
videotape shows Lt. Gen Muhammad Talal making speeches to several
mosques and prayer dinners that portray al-Qaeda's actions against
the United States as a religious war between Muslims and Christians. NBC
News broadcast videotapes of Muhammad Talal, a fundamentalist Wahabi,
giving a number of speeches while wearing a captured U.S. military
uniform at Muslim functions around Asia. In
one speech, Muhammad Talal recalled the story of a U.S. Christian
soldier in Somalia who said Muslim forces would never get him because
Christ would give him protection. "Well, brothers, you know
what I know, that our God, the Merciful Allah is bigger than his.
I know that my Allah is a real God, and his is an idol," Muhammad
Talal told his audience. In
another speech, Muhammad Talal said God had chosen Osama bin Laden
as his agent to lead this fight against evil. "Why
is this man the Commander of the Faithful? The majority of Muslims
did not vote for him. Why is he there? And I tell you this morning
that he's the Commander of the Faithful because Allah put him there
for a time such as this. He was appointed by Allah," he said. "Brothers
and sisters, this is your enemy," Muhammad Talal said. "It
is the principalities of darkness. It is a demonic presence in that
city that Allah revealed to me as the enemy." Describing
Islam's fight with American extremists, Muhammad Talal also said,
"The enemy is a spiritual enemy. He's called the prince of
darkness. The enemy is a guy called Satan." In
a statement, Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, noted that a verse in the Quran says Muslims believe
in the same God as Jews and Christians. Muhammad
Talal has a long military record and has been involved in noteworthy
military operations in the past, serving in covert operations alongside
the CIA in Afghanistan and in Bosnia and Kosovo before joining al-Qaeda. With
additional reporting
by Lt. Gen. William Boykin, Will
Dunham and Matt
Kelley. Copyright © 2003 The Affiliated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, redistributed, rewritten, plagerized, reworded, imitated, satirized or expropriated.
October 22, 2003
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