Timeline: Al-Qaeda tapes

Below is a timeline of tapes and videos released by Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda.

The US has rejected all offers of a truce from al-Qaeda

April 23, 2006: In an audio tape received by Al Jazeera, the al-Qaeda leader accuses the West of waging a “crusader war” on Islam. He said: “Those that have wronged the Prophet should be handed over to al-Qaeda for judgment.”

 

January 19, 2006: In excerpts of an audio tape aired by Al Jazeera, Bin Laden says al-Qaeda is making preparations for attacks in the United States and offers a truce on “fair” but undefined conditions.


December 27, 2004: In an audio tape, Bin Laden
calls on Iraqis to boycott the January 30, 2005 elections and

names as his Iraq deputy Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian

blamed for many attacks against US-led forces in Iraq. 

 

December 16, 2004: In an audio tape posted on a website, Bin Laden exonerates fighters of responsibility for violence in Saudi Arabia and calls on them to stop the flow of oil to the West. 

October 29, 2004: Al Jazeera broadcasts a video of Bin Laden saying the US can avoid another attack like those of September 11, 2001, if it stops threatening the security of Muslims. 

May 6, 2004: In an online audio tape released on Islamic

forums, Bin Laden offers rewards of gold for the killing of

US and UN officials. 

April 15, 2004: Bin Laden offers a truce to European countries that do not attack Muslims. He vows revenge against the United States for the assassination by Israel of Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, the founder of Hamas. 

January 4, 2004: Bin Laden says on an audio tape broadcast on Al Jazeera that the US-led war in Iraq is the beginning of the occupation of Arab Gulf states for their oil. He calls on Muslims to keep fighting in the Middle East. 

September 10, 2003: In the first video image of bin Laden in nearly two years, he is shown walking through rocky terrain with his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Two taped messages accompanied the video.

In one, a voice purporting to be Bin Laden’s praises the “great damage to the enemy” on September 11 and mentions five hijackers by name. In the other, a voice said to be that of al-Zawahiri threatens more attacks on Americans. 

April 7, 2003: In an audio tape obtained by The Associated Press in Pakistan, Bin Laden exhorts Muslims to rise up against Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other governments he says are agents of America, and calls for bombers to attack US and British interests. 

February 13, 2003: An audio tape of Bin Laden reading a poetic last will and testament is aired on the British-based Al-Ansaar news agency. Bin Laden says he wants to die a martyr in a new attack against the US.

February 11, 2003: Bin Laden calls on Iraqis to carry out bomb attacks against Americans and defend themselves

against a US attack in a tape broadcast on Al Jazeera. 

November 2002: Al Jazeera broadcasts an audio tape in

which a voice attributed to Bin Laden says the “youths of

God” are planning more attacks against the US. 

December 13, 2001: The US defence department releases a

video of Bin Laden in Afghanistan on 9 November 2001, saying the destruction of the 9/11 attacks exceeded even his “optimistic” calculations. 

Source: News Agencies