Bin Laden Accuses Pope of leading a 'new Crusade' in audiotape message

The voice, claiming to be Bin Laden, did not give any specific indication of hostile acts. Rather, he said "The response will be what you see and not what you hear, and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God."

LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - In another of his orchestrated audiotape messages, the founder and public symbol of Islamic extremism, Osama bin Laden, accused Pope Benedict XVI leading a "new Crusade" against Islam.

The elusive voice of what has become a growing global "Jihad",as has been his manner in past tapes, issued unclear and obscure threats of violence.

The focus of Bin Laden's animosity this time was the republication of cartoons in Europe which depict Muhammed in a manner which is offensive to Muslims. He addressed the offensive cartoons claiming they "came in the framework of a new Crusade in which the pope of the Vatican has played a large, lengthy role."

The facts are quite to the contrary. The Pope has condemned the publication and re-publication of these offensive cartoons.

The voice, claiming to be Bin Laden, did not give any specific indication of hostile acts. Rather, he said "The response will be what you see and not what you hear, and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God."

The message was broadcast on Al-Jazeera's television network and urged that a holy war be conducted by his followers on behalf of the Palestinians. It was critical of the current efforts at peace negotiations between the Palestinian authority and the nation of Israel.

On Thursday, the Vatican denied the specious claim of Bin Laden that it was leading some kind of anti-Islamic "crusade". Father Federico Lombard is the chief spokesman for the Holy See on this matter. He addressed the subject in a telephone interview:

"These accusations are absolutely unfounded....There is nothing new in this, and it doesn't have any particular significance for us."

However, reports from reliable sources indicate that Vatican Security officials are taking these threats quite seriously because of the high profile public appearances of the Holy Father during this Holy Week and upcoming Easter season.

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