- News>
- Archives
We have N-weapons as a deterrent: Osama
Osama Bin Laden said in an interview with a Pakistani newspaper released on Saturday that his group has nuclear and chemical weapons and is prepared to use them.
Osama Bin Laden said in an interview with a Pakistani newspaper released on Saturday that his group has nuclear and chemical weapons and is prepared to use them. "I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons," Dawn newspaper quoted Bin Laden as saying in an exclusive interview in Kabul.
"We have chemical and nuclear weapons as a deterrent," he added, while refusing to say where he got the weapons from or give other details.
US President George W Bush warned last week that he believed Bin Laden`s al-Qaida network was "seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons".
Dawn is Pakistan`s oldest English language newspaper and one of its most respected publications. It said the interview was carried out on Wednesday by Hamid Mir, the editor of Ausaf newspaper. Mir is writing a book on Bin Laden. He has interviewed Bin Laden in the past as well.
In the latest interview, Laden did not deny that he was involved in the attacks but he justified them saying: "America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir and Iraq. Muslims have the right to attack America in reprisal. "The September 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America`s icons of military and economic power," he said.
And he went on: "The American Congress endorses all government measures and this proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims."
Laden criticised Pakistan for joining the US-led campaign. "The government of Pakistan should have the wishes of the people in view," he was quoted as saying. "It should not have surrendered to the unjustified demands of America. America does not have solid proof against us. It just has some surmises. It is unjust to start bombing on those surmises," he said. Bureau Report
"We have chemical and nuclear weapons as a deterrent," he added, while refusing to say where he got the weapons from or give other details.
US President George W Bush warned last week that he believed Bin Laden`s al-Qaida network was "seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons".
Dawn is Pakistan`s oldest English language newspaper and one of its most respected publications. It said the interview was carried out on Wednesday by Hamid Mir, the editor of Ausaf newspaper. Mir is writing a book on Bin Laden. He has interviewed Bin Laden in the past as well.
In the latest interview, Laden did not deny that he was involved in the attacks but he justified them saying: "America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir and Iraq. Muslims have the right to attack America in reprisal. "The September 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America`s icons of military and economic power," he said.
And he went on: "The American Congress endorses all government measures and this proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims."
Laden criticised Pakistan for joining the US-led campaign. "The government of Pakistan should have the wishes of the people in view," he was quoted as saying. "It should not have surrendered to the unjustified demands of America. America does not have solid proof against us. It just has some surmises. It is unjust to start bombing on those surmises," he said. Bureau Report