al-Qaeda’s declaration of war on video
- August 19, 2002
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CNN got hold of a previously unseen video tape of Osama Bin Laden meeting with several Pakistani and one Chinese journalists. In the tape, Bin Laden declares war on the “crusaders and Jews”. He also mentions that al-Qaeda “have formed with many other Islamic groups and organizations in the Islamic world a front called the International Islamic Front to do jihad”. Accompanying Bin Laden are Ayman Al-Zawahiri, his right-hand man, Mohammad Atef, his military advisor who was killed in the US bombings in Afghanistan and the sons of Sheik Abdul Rahman, the spiritual leader of the people convicted of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
The video never got much publicity because only a handful of journalists were allowed to attend and no independent taping was allowed. The video was obtained along with 64 others from a house where Bin Laden had stayed in Afghanistan.