The message was broadcast by the Qatar-based Arabic satellite channel, Al Jazeera. The last message received from Bin Laden dates back to September 20 when he called on Pakistanis to wage a jihad or holy war against the government of President Pervez Musharraf. That was meant to be in retaliation for the raid by Pakistani Security forces on the Al Qaeda-linked Red Mosque and for Musharraf's support of US policies in the region. Scores of people died during the crackdown and many more were arrested when Musharraf ordered his security forces to launch an assault against radical Islamists holed up inside the mosque.
What has followed has been a spate of terror bombings and attacks against the Pakistani military, in which scores of soldiers - as well as many innocent civilians - were killed.
Monday's renewed call to arms by Bin Laden, and particularly his statements referring to placing the interests of the Islamic nation above everything else is quite consistent with his policy: that the ultimate goal should be the reestablishment of the Caliphate - the Islamic form of government representing the political unity and leadership of the Muslim world. Bin Laden's rhetoric over the years has been focused on convincing Muslims everywhere to join his quest to recreate this ruling system.
Baghdad, of course, was central to the historical Caliphate and the current mayhem that prevails in Iraq since the Arab country's 2003 US invasion and subsequent occupation has provided Bin Laden and his followers with an ideal situation, offering them a platform from which to pursue their goal.
Under the caliphate, derived from the Arabic word khilafah, the head of state, the caliph, has a position based on the notion of a successor to Islam's Prophet Mohammed's political authority.
This, in fact, is one of the points upon which the two main branches of Islam - the Sunnis and Shiites - disagree. According to Sunnis, the caliph is elected by the people or their representatives, while in Shiite Islam, the successor is chosen from the Ahl Al Bayt or household of Mohammed.
From the time of the Prophet Mohammed's rule after his victory over the tribes of Arabia and, until 1924, successive caliphates were held by the Umayyad, Abbasid and, finally, Ottoman dynasties.
Under traditional Islamic theology, the caliphate is the only form of governance that has full approval in the political concept of Sunni Islam.
In his message, Bin Laden called on his "brother fighters in Iraq," telling them, "Muslims are waiting for you to gather under one banner, so that justice can be served."
The leader of Al Qaeda said that some fighters had committed "mistakes," and instructed the insurgents not to follow "their leaders and groups blindly."
While he did not elaborate on what those mistakes may have been, Bin Laden was, most likely, referring to the behavior of some local Al Qaeda leaders in the Sunni heartland of Iraq that had turned tribesmen, particularly in Anbar Province, against the Islamist movement. The alliance that emerged between Iraq's Sunni tribesmen and US forces has since resulted in serious defeats for the Islamists.
"Everybody can make a mistake, but the best of them are those who admit their mistakes," said Bin Laden. His admission to mistakes being committed is, indeed, unprecedented, and indicative of the setbacks suffered by his movement in Iraq.
The latest recording surfaces at a time coinciding with a sharp drop in violence in Iraq.
While experts in Washington believe the voice on the tape to be genuine, unlike previous recordings, this one does not refer to any specific event, allowing it to be dated. What Bin Laden's latest recording does indicate, however, is that Al Qaeda in Iraq has suffered a major setback.
*Published in the Cyprus-based MIDDLE EAST TIMES on September 23, 2007. Claude Salhani is Editor of the Middle East Times. He may be contacted at claude@metimes.com. |
