Dubai (AsiaNews) Hamas and the Darfur rebels were quick to take official distance, but the umpteenth call of Bin Laden to holy war has met with varying reactions in the mid-east, from those who see it as a "sign of desperation" to those consider it as a step towards an anti-American alliance with Ahmadinejad, to those who point to a series of "orders" for expansion of the war.
Certainly, the message lays down the field of attack that according to Bin Laden, the west is carrying out against the Islamic world. Many have underlined a search for consensus that would seem to be the real content, if not the reason, for the message. One thing for certain, from this perspective, is the reference to the Muhammad cartoons, given the widespread reactions they drew. The attack on the US and Europe for cutting financial aid to the Palestinian government after the victory of Hamas, reeks of the same logic. A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, reiterated what he had already said at the end of the Palestinian electoral campaign, that "the ideology of Hamas is completely different compared to that of Sheikh Bin Laden". He agreed with the analysis of the head of Al Qaeda, maintaining that "the international siege to which the Palestinian people is subjected to" will create "tensions in the Arab world and on Palestinian streets".
Meanwhile, the reaction of rebels to Bin Laden's appeal for a prolonged "war against the crusaders" in Darfur was absolutely negative. "We categorically reject these declarations," said Ahmed Hussein, spokesman for the Movement for Equality and Justice (JEM). "Bin Laden has launched a theory based on an American-Zionist plot when, here, the problems of Darfur come from Khartoum, from a Muslim government responsible for the murder of other Muslims". Today, analyzing Bin Laden's appeal, Lebanonwire saw an "important" statement on the "state of Jihad", with 20 "marching orders". Among them: that the UN is a "criminal and infidel institution"; that a "cultural invasion" is being prepared: Arab televisions must be stopped. Liberal Muslims killed". Hindus in India, the Pakistani president Musharraf, Russia, France and Salman Rushdie should also be "killed" or "punished". Once again, "dialogue with the west must be rejected"; "East Timor's independence is the Muslims' failure"; "The masses in the infidel lands think like their leaders so they must share their responsibility; do not trust "traitors" including Muftis and moderate clerics; all Muslims to offer everything for Jihad, "including their lives".
An American analyst on the Middle East, Fawaz Gerges, told Al Jazeera Bin Laden was "desperate". "For Bin Laden, the current struggle is more than political or economic; it is existential and civilisational" and he wants to incite young Muslims to get involved in this global conflict. "He sounds deeply disappointed that his messages have fallen on deaf ears He feels an urgent need to remind his followers and the Muslim community that he is still alive, that he exists. But the truth is that there are few takers for his war on civilisation. Neither Iraqis nor Palestinians are willing to wage a war on Bin Laden's behalf; nor do they subscribe to his vision. They have much more limited goals than bin Laden's ambitious and convoluted rhetoric."
Meanwhile, Hamid Gul, former director general of the Intelligence Services of Pakistan, told the Asia Times: "Al Qaeda is revitalizing its lost links with Iran", thanks to controversy over Tehran's nuclear program.
According to Gul, Al Qaeda has realised the objective of having a Muslim state as a base, thanks to the control it has acquired in the tribal region of North Waziristan, in Pakistan, and to expansion under way in the southern part of the region and numerous Afghan provinces like Kunar, Paktia, Khost, Helmand and Zabul. But although the Afghan guerilla war is linked to the Iraqi one and the Taleban have launched an open conflict with American forces in Afghanistan, "the question of a unified command that would control resistance movements whether they be in Iraq, Palestine or Afghanistan is still unanswered. This is where Iran could now fit in, taking a lead role in orchestrating resistance movements, in collaboration with al-Qaeda."
