Osama bin Laden curses US to collapse soon, emphasizing hits on economic might
( 2001-12-28 15:32 ) (7 )

Osama bin Laden told the United States that it would soon collapse, whether he lived or died, as Muslims around the world had "awakened" to its tyranny.

In a videotape released by Qatar's al-Jazeera television station on Thursday, the world's most wanted man described the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities as "blessed" and said they had been carried out by 19 students who had trained "in the midst of the enemy".

He urged Muslims to wage "military and economic" jihad or holy war against the world's only superpower, which he called "fragile".

"We say that the end of the United States is imminent, whether bin Laden or his followers are alive or dead, for the awakening of the Muslim umma (nation) has occurred," he said.

"It is important to hit the economy (of the United States), which is the base of its military power...if the economy is hit they will become preoccupied," he added.

Jazeera has been bin Laden's only media outlet since the United States launched its military campaign against Afghanistan in October. Washington accuses the Saudi-born militant of planning the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities.

Qatar's al-Jazeera television aired excerpts on Wednesday of the 34-minute-long message, in which bin Laden accused the West of holding an "indescribable amount of Crusader loathing for Islam".

The channel said bin Laden's latest dose of anti-Western rhetoric had been mailed from Pakistan but had lain unopened on a secretary's desk for two days before someone noticed it.

It did not say how it got the tape or when or where it had been shot, though the channel's anchor said it could have been recorded in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as bin Laden was swallowing constantly.

Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk during Ramadan which ended on December 15.

In the tape, the Saudi-born militant sat in front of a burlap-covered wall, his Russian-made semiautomatic weapon propped by his side.

Wearing a military-style smock, a traditional Afghani headdress and sporting his trademark bushy grey beard, bin Laden appeared tired but composed. His voice was calm for most of the address but choked towards the end while he was reciting a eulogy to the perpetrators of September's suicide hijacked plane attacks.

Experts said the tape -- a rambling address which included animal fables, military advice, verses from the Koran and bin Laden's own poetry -- was intended to show the world that he was still alive, at least until the middle of December because he spoke of a U.S. raid that took place at that time.

As before, he stopped short of admitting responsibility for the September 11 attacks but said: "Our terrorism against the United States is blessed... so that America stops its support for Israel".