Top Qaeda leader urges fighters to hit White House

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Media: Reuters
Byline: N/A
Date: 10 October 2006

Body:

DUBAI (Reuters) - A man believed to be a top al Qaeda militant who escaped
from a U.S. jail near Kabul was shown in a new videotape broadcast on
Tuesday exhorting followers in Afghanistan to fight on until they attack the
White House.

"Allah will not be pleased until we reach the rooftop of the White House,"
Abu Yahya al-Libi was shown telling fighters in the tape aired by the
Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television.

The channel said the tape was one-hour long, showing footage of Libi urging
fighters to train hard and even to try to acquire nuclear technology.

"You have to get well prepared by starting with exercise, and then you have
to learn how to use technology until you are capable of nuclear weapons," he
said.

Libi was shown in the footage bearded and wearing a long grey Muslim robe
while standing in front of a group of fighters.

Libi is believed to be the alias of Libyan Mohammad Hassan who along with
three other al Qaeda militants broke out of the U.S. jail at Bagram Air Base
last year.

Analysts say he is an influential militant preacher, better known for
recruiting fighters than for actual combat.

Arabiya said the authenticity of the tape could not be verified, but experts
had told its bureau in Afghanistan the video was filmed in the southeast of
the country.

British troops in Iraq said in September they killed one of the four al
Qaeda escapees -- Omar Faruq, one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants -- in
the city of Basra.
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