Osama bin Laden slammed Palestinian negotiations with Israel and urged holy war for the liberation of Palestine in a new audio tape.
The audio -- the second by bin Laden in as many days -- was the first time bin Laden spoke of the Palestinian question at length since the situation in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip deteriorated when Israel imposed a siege in response to heavy rocket fire by Gaza militants.
He said that "Palestine cannot be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but with fire and iron."
Bin Laden also called on Palestinians who are unable to fight in the "land of al-Quds" -- a Muslim reference to Jerusalem -- to join the al-Qaeda fight and the holy war, or jihad, in Iraq.
"The nearest field of jihad today to support our people in Palestine is the Iraqi field," said bin Laden in the approximately 11-minute tape, excerpts of which were first broadcast on Thursday by al-Jazeera television. The entire tape appeared yesterday on an Islamic militant Web site.
"We tell our brothers in Palestine who could not join the jihad in the land of al-Quds, to get rid of illusions of political parties and groups which are mired in trickery of the blasphemous democracy and to take their positions among the ranks of the mujahideen in Iraq," he said.
Such a Palestinian fight in Iraq should be "supported by all Muslims, specially from neighboring countries," bin Laden said.
The authenticity of the tape, which was broadcast with an old photograph showing bin Laden in a white turban and what appeared to be a camouflage jacket, could not be verified, but it was posted on a Web site commonly used by al-Qaeda.
As with bin Laden's earlier audiotape, posted late on Wednesday on the same militant Web site, there was no indication when exactly it was made. The two messages were bin Laden's first this year.
In the Thursday audiotape, bin Laden said the sufferings of the Palestinians in Gaza began when treacherous Arab leaders began supporting the US-hosted Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, last November, and the "Zionist entity."
"By their support, they are considered partners to this horrible crime," bin Laden said of Arab leaders who have backed the Mid dle East peace talks.
In Wednesday's five-minute recording, bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a ``new Crusade'' against Islam.
Vatican spokesman, Reverend Federico Lombardi, said on Thursday that bin Laden's accusation that the pope had played a role in a worldwide campaign against Islam was "baseless."
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’