Is bin Laden a recent convert of Palestinian struggle? Some Palestinians, including the Chairman Arafat are saying that Bin Laden is using the Palestinian Jihad. That's far from truth! Just read the following interview given 5 years ago. And by the way he was in Afghanistan, after being asked to leave Sudan, before even the Taliban took over Kabul. It was the government of late Commander Massoud of Northern Alliance that accepted him back into Afghanistan.

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INTERVIEW OF BIN LADEN, 5 YEARS AGO! >>

Source: http://www.islam.org.au/articles/15/LADIN.HTM

What is the policy that should be adopted by the Islamic movement towards the scholars who defend -intentionally or unintentio-nally- the likes of the Saud regime?

It is not a concealed fact that the police states in the Arab world rely on some foundations in order to protect themselves.. Amongst these organisations is the security organisation as they spend generously on it, and its foremost mission is to spy on its own people in order to protect the person of the ruler, even if this was at the expense of the rights of the people and their security, as also the military sector, which is prepared to strike the people if they wish to reject the suppression and to remove oppression and establish truth.

The media sector is in the same category as it strives to beatify the persons of the leaders, to drowse the community, and to fulfil the plans of the enemies through keeping the people occupied with the minor matters, and to stir their emotions and desires until corruption becomes widespread amongst the believers.

There is also another organisation which takes priority with the leaders in the Arab world, and is used to take the people astray, and to open the door wide for the security factions to fulfil their aforementioned objectives.. This is the organisation of the scholars of the authorities, as the role of this organisation is the most dangerous of roles in the entirety of the Arabic countries.

History is the best witness to this.

At the same time that some of the leaders are engaging in the major Kufr, which takes them out of the fold of Islam in broad daylight and in front of all the people, you would find a Fatwa from their religious organisation.. In particular, the role of the religious organisation in the country of the two sacred mosques is of the most ominous of roles, this is overlooking whether it fulfilled this role intentionally or unintentionally, the harm which eventuated from their efforts is no different from the role of the most ardent enemies of the nation.

The regime in the land of the two sacred mosques has given a very high priority to this organisation, and has been able to enlarge its position in the estimation of the people until it made of it an idol to be worshipped aside from God amongst some of the common people, and without the will of the members of this organisation.

However, there continues to be in the land of the two sacred mosques - with gratitude to Allah - a good number of honest scholars and students who work according to their teachings, and those who have taken visible and daring stances against the Kufr activities which the regime is working.

The regime has strived to keep these scholars in the shadows and then removed them, one way or another, from being effective elements in the lives of the people in the community. At the forefront of these scholars was the Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamid - May Allah bless his soul - who was the Mufti in the Arabian peninsula, and who headed the supreme council of judges. However, the regime constrained him and tightened their grip on him until he offered his resignation.. He has many famous writings in response to the unacceptable laws which the government had introduced instead of the Law of Allah, one of these is a treatise dealing with the law of work and workers which deals with many of the introduced laws which contradict the law of Allah (s.w.t.).

At the same time, they promoted some of the scholars who were far below Sheikh Ibn Hamid - may Allah bless his soul - those who have been known to be weak and soft, so they put them forward in a cunning plan which began more than twenty years ago.. During the preceding two decades, the regime enlarged the role of Bin Baz (Grand Mufti) because of what it knows of his weakness and flexibility and the ease of influencing him with the various means which the interior ministry practices through providing him with false information. So, a generation of youth were raised believing that the most pious and knowledgeable of people is Bin Baz as a result of the media promotion through a well studied policy which had been progressed over twenty years.

After this, the government began to strike with the cane of Bin Baz, every corrective programme which the honest scholars put forward, further, it extracted a Fatwa to hand over Palestine to the Jews, and before this, to permit entry into the country of the two sacred mosques to the modern day crusaders under the rule of necessity, then it relied on a letter from him to the minister for internal affairs and placed the honest scholars in the gaols.

The confidence of the people and the youth in Bin Baz was therefore shaken, however the price was very high, whilst the confidence of the people in the working scholars, particularly those in the prisons had been increased.

The policy of the Organisation for Advice and Rectification towards these scholars is the continuation of providing advise to them openly and secretly (as there is no person above the law, and we are not immune) and particularly in the matters where they gave public rulings, and to bring the rulings of the scholars who respond to their rulings, in order to bring awareness to the people as to the correct ruling with respect to these matters, and not to forestall the rectification programme so that the scholars are made aware, as the pressure which is applied against them is very great.

Also the promotion of the honest scholars and their mention with what they deserve in front of the people so that the confidence of the people would greatly shift in support to them.

How do you evaluate the Saud regime's foreign policy towards the Muslim world in the past years?

The external policy of the Saud regime towards Islamic issues is a policy which is tied to the British outlook from the establishment of Saudi Arabia until 1364 ah (1945 ac), then it became attached to the American outlook after America gained prominence as a major power in the world after the Second World War.

It is well known that the policies of these two countries bear the greatest enmity towards the Islamic world.

To be taken out of this category is the final phase of the rule of King Faisal, as there was a clear interest with the Muslim issues, in particular al Quds and Palestine.

However, the regime does not cease to cry in the open over the matters effecting the Muslims without making any serious effort to serve the interests of the Muslim community apart from small efforts in order to confuse people and throw some dust into their eyes.

The confrontation between the Islamic movement and the apostate Saud regime recorded a historical turning point following the latest attacks against the American occupiers targets. How did these attacks reflect on the internal front, and how did they affect the Saudi-American relations?

There were important effects to the two explosions in Riyadh on both the internal and external aspects. Most important amongst these is the awareness of the people to the significance of the American occupation of the country of the two sacred mosques, and that the original decrees of the regime are a reflection of the wishes of the American occupiers. So the people became aware that their main problems were caused by the American occupiers and their puppets in the Saudi regime, whether this was from the religious aspect or from other aspects in their everyday lives. The sympathies of the people with the working scholars who had been imprisoned also increased as has their understanding of their advises and guidance which led the people to support the general rectification movement which is led by the scholars and the callers to Islam. This movement - with the bounty of Allah - is increasing in power and in supporters day after day at the expense of the regime. The sympathy with these missions at the civil and military levels were great, as also the sympathies of the Muslim world with the struggle against the Americans.

As for the relationship between the regime and the American occupiers, these operations have embarrassed both sides and have led to the exchange of accusations between them. So we have the Americans stating that the causes of the explosions are the bad policies of the regime and the corruption of members of the ruling family, and the regime is accusing the Americans of exceeding their authority by taking advantage of the regime and forcing it to enter into military and civil contracts which are beyond its means, which led to great economic slide which has effected the people. In addition to this is the behaviour of the Americans with crudeness and arrogance with the Saudi army and their general behaviour with citizens, and the privileges which the Americans enjoy in distinction from the Saudi forces.

These missions also paved the way for the raising of the voices of opposition against the American occupation from within the ruling family and the armed forces; in fact we can say that the remaining Gulf countries have been effected to the same degree, and that the voices of opposition to the American occupation have begun to be heard at the level of the ruling families and the governments of the Cooperative Council of Gulf countries. The differences in outlooks between the Americans and the Gulf states has appeared for the first time since the second Gulf war. This was during the conference of the ministers of external affairs of the countries of the cooperative council of Gulf states which was held in Riyadh to look into the American missile aggression against Iraq. These differences are nothing more than a sign of the strain which has eventuated in the relationship between America and the countries of the region in the footsteps of the Jihad missions against the Americans in Riyadh and as a result of the fear of these regimes that their own lands might witness similar Jihad missions.

It was observed that the American and Saudi officials tried to link the latest operations to some foreign countries. What is behind these attempts?

A result of the increasing reaction of the people against the American occupation and the great sympathy with the Jihad missions against the Americans is the eagerness of the Americans and the Saudis to propagate false information to disperse these sympathies. This can be witnessed in their statements that some of the countries in the region were behind the Jihad missions inside the country of the two sacred mosques, however the people are aware that this is an internal Islamic movement against the American occupation which is revealing itself in the most clear picture after the killing of the four champions who performed the Riyadh operation, the ones concerning whom, we ask Allah to accept amongst the martyrs.

It has become routine policy for countries upon facing an internal calamity is to lay the responsibility on an external country. Before the puppetry of the Arabic countries to America became plainly obvious, the security sections never hesitated to accuse any rectifying Islamic movement to be a puppet to America and Israel.

What are the regime's choices with regards to the Muslim uprising, and what are your expectations for the future?

There are several choices for the regime, one of these is reconciliation with all the different sections of the public, by releasing the scholars, and offering essential changes, the most important of these is to bring back Islamic law, and to practise real Shura (consultative government). The regime may resort to this choice after finding itself in the position of a morsel of food for the Americans to take, after the enmity has been stirred with their people. These people today feel that the Americans have exceeded their limits both politically and economically, the regime now knows that the public are aware that their sovereignty is shared. This was particularly evident in the recent period through the American press statements which give justification to the American occupation which only exists to rob the wealth of the people to the benefit of the Americans. This option is dependent on the agreement of the people who hold the solution and have the ability to effect change, at the forefront of these would be the honest scholars.

As for the other option, this is a very difficult and dangerous one for the regime, and this involves an escalation in the confrontation between the Muslim people and the American occupiers and to confront the economic haemorrhage. Its most important goal would be to change the current regime, with the permission of Allah.

As a part of the furious international campaign against the Jihad movement, you were personally the target of a prejudiced attack, which accused you of financing terrorism and being part of an international terrorist organisation. What do you have to say about that?

After the end of the cold war, America escalated its campaign against the Muslim world in its entirety, aiming to get rid of Islam itself. Its main focus in this was to target the scholars and the reformers who were enlightening the people to the dangers of the Judao - American alliance, and they also targeted the Mujahideen. We also have been hit with some of the traces of this campaign as we were accused of funding terrorism, and being members of an international terrorist organisation. Their aims in making these allegations were to place psychological pressure on the Mujahideen and their supporters so that they would forsake the obligation of Jihad and the resistance of oppression and American Israeli occupation of Islamic sacred lands. However, our gratitude to Allah, their campaign was not successful, as terrorising the American occupiers is a religious and logical obligation. We are grateful to Allah Most Exalted in that He has facilitated Jihad in His cause for us, against the Americo - Israeli attacks on the Islamic sanctities.

As for their accusations of terrorising the innocent, the children, and the women, these are in the category "accusing others with their own affliction in order to fool the masses". The evidence overwhelmingly shows America and Israel killing the weaker men, women, and children in the Muslim world and elsewhere. A few examples of this are seen in the recent Qana massacre in Lebanon, and the death of more than six hundred thousands (600,000) Iraqi children because of the shortage of food and medicine which resulted from the boycotts and sanctions against the Muslim Iraqi people, also their withholding of arms from the Muslims of Bosnian Hercegovina leaving them prey to the Christian Serbians who massacred and raped in a manner not seen in contemporary history. Not to forget the dropping of the H bombs on cities with their entire populations of children, elderly, and women, on purpose, and in a premeditated manner as was the case with Hiroshima and Nakazagki. Then, killing hundreds of thousands of children in Iraq, and whose numbers (of dead) continue to increase as a result of the sanctions. Despite the continuing American occupation of the country of the two sacred mosques, America continues to claim that it is upholding the banner of freedom and humanity, whilst these deeds which they did, you would find that the most ravenous of animals would not descend to.

As for what America accuses us of, of killing the innocent people, they have not been able to offer any evidence, despite the magnitude of their expenditure on their intelligence services. Despite what our history is witnessing in the Afghan phase of the Jihad. This was also unstained with any blood of innocent people, despite the inhuman Russian campaign against our women, our children, and our brothers in Afghanistan... Similar is our history with respect to our differences with the Saudi regime, all that has been proved is our joy at the killing of the American Soldiers in Riyadh and Khobar, and these are the sentiments of every Muslim. Our encouragement and call to Muslims to enter Jihad against the American and the Israeli occupiers are actions which we are engaging in as religious obligations. Allah Most High has commanded us in many verses of the Qur`an to fight in His path and to urge the believers to do so. Of these are His words: "Fight in the path of Allah, you are not charged with the responsibility except for yourself, and urge the believers, lest Allah restrain the might of the rejectors, and Allah is stronger in might and stronger in inflicting punishment." and His words: "And what is it with you that you do not fight in the path of Allah, whilst the weak amongst the men, and the women, and the children who say: our Lord take us out of this town the people of which are oppressive, and make for us from You a protecting friend and make for us from You a succourer", and His words: "So if you meet those who reject, then strike the necks..." We have given an oath to Allah to continue in the struggle as long as we have blood pumping in our veins or a seeing eye, and we beg of Allah to accept and to grant a good ending for us and for all the Muslims.

Some media sources mentioned that the Afghan government demanded that you leave the country. How true is this?

The Afghan government has not asked us to leave the country... All gratitude to Allah, our relationship with our brother Mujahideen in Afghanistan is a deep and broad relationship where blood and sweat have mixed as have the links over long years of struggle against the Soviets, it is not a passing relationship, nor one based on personal interests.

They are committed to support the religion approved by Allah, and that country remains as the Muslims have known it, a strong fort for Islam, and its people are amongst the most protective of the religion approved by Allah, and the keenest to fulfil His laws and to establish an Islamic state.

That passing phase of infighting has saddened us as it has saddened all the Muslims, however, we wish to indicate that the picture of events as painted by the international press is grossly distorted, and that this infighting is much smaller and less fierce than what Muslims on the outside may imagine, and that most of the country is living a normal peaceful life; apart from some petty crimes here and there as some elements attempt to create corruption under cover of the disputes amongst some of the groups. We our hoping that Afghanistan would regain very soon - God willing - its Islamic position which would befit its history of Jihad.

What is the responsibility of the Muslim populations towards the international campaign against Islam?

What bears no doubt in this fierce Judeo - Christian campaign against the Muslim world, the likes of which has never been seen before, is that the Muslims must prepare all the possible might to repel the enemy on the military, economic, missionary, and all other areas. It is crucial for us to be patient and to cooperate in righteousness and piety and to raise awareness to the fact that the highest priority, after faith is to repel the incursive enemy which corrupts the religion and the world, and nothing deserves a higher priority after faith, as the scholars have declared, for this cause, it is crucial to overlook many of the issues of bickering in order to unite our ranks so that we can repel the greater Kufr.

All must move giving life to the words of the Most High: "Indeed this, your community, is one community, and I am your Lord, so worship me" and that they should not be like those whom Allah has described with His words: "Indeed those who have divided their religion and became schisms, you are not of them in any way." It is essential to volunteer and not to bicker, and the Muslim should not belittle righteousness in any way, the messenger ( peace and blessings upon him) said: "Whoever believes in Allah and the last day must speak good or not speak at all." and they must heed the words of the messenger (peace and blessings upon him) when they move: "Inform and do not repel, and make it easy and do not make it difficult.".. And we ask Allah to give this community the guidance to exalt the people who obey Him and humiliate those who disobey Him, and to give us a rule where decency is commanded and evil is forbidden. O Allah bless Mohammad, Your servant and messenger, and his family, and companions, and give them peace... All gratitude to Allah the Lord of the worlds.