London suicide bomber on videotape
Muhammad Siddique Khan, 30, said in English in a tape aired on Aljazeera on Thursday he and thousands of others were committed to defending Islam against violence by democratically elected governments.
One of four suicide bombers behind the 7 July attacks on London invoked the name of Osama bin Ladin and warned in a videotape he made before his death of more attacks unless “atrocities” against Muslims stopped.
It was not clear how long before his death the tape had been made, or where.
“Until we feel secure you will be our targets. Until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture … we will not stop this fight. We are at war and I am a soldier,” he said.
In the tape, Khan did not claim responsibility for the 7 July 7 attack in the name of al-Qaida but he called bin Ladin, his No 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, and al-Qaida in Iraq leader Musab al-Zarqawi as “today’s heroes” and hailed “martyrs” who had given their lives in defence of Islam.
Aljazeera showed Khan wearing a turban, talking directly to the camera, seemingly relaxed and speaking in a heavy accent of Yorkshire in northern England, where he had lived.
“Words have no impact on you, therefore we will talk to you in a language you understand. .. I and thousands like have foresaken everything for what we believe,” he said.