G
gilliam
Guest
Reuters | March 12 2005
DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda Organization in Iraq has slammed as a gathering of infidels an international conference to mark the first anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, and said Islam will prevail.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the three-day conference in the Spanish capital Thursday the world must quickly take concerted action against terrorism and deny extremists the chance to carry out a nuclear attack.
“How many times do the infidels meet in solidarity against Islam and jihad (holy struggle) … and stand in the same trench with one thing on their minds; to fight Muslims and abuse them,” the group said in a statement posted on a Web site used by Islamists Saturday.
The group is behind some of the deadliest attacks in Iraq, including suicide bombings and the kidnapping and beheading of foreign hostages.
Around 20 heads of government, including Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, attended the conference organized to mark the anniversary of the March 11, 2004 attacks by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda group that killed 191 people.
Annan called on U.N. members to put aside wrangling over the definition of terrorism that has for years obstructed agreement on an anti-terrorism treaty.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the conference that the fight against terrorism was being won “by nations that cherish freedom and democracy coming together to defend and project these values.”
Al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq said the group was obliged to “terrorize the enemies of God” in a relentless struggle and that it was certain of victory.
“No matter what you prepare, o you infidels, you will be defeated and will never be victorious because God has promised us victory,” it said in the statement. Washington says bin Laden has asked al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to plan attacks in the United States.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda Organization in Iraq has slammed as a gathering of infidels an international conference to mark the first anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, and said Islam will prevail.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the three-day conference in the Spanish capital Thursday the world must quickly take concerted action against terrorism and deny extremists the chance to carry out a nuclear attack.
“How many times do the infidels meet in solidarity against Islam and jihad (holy struggle) … and stand in the same trench with one thing on their minds; to fight Muslims and abuse them,” the group said in a statement posted on a Web site used by Islamists Saturday.
The group is behind some of the deadliest attacks in Iraq, including suicide bombings and the kidnapping and beheading of foreign hostages.
Around 20 heads of government, including Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, attended the conference organized to mark the anniversary of the March 11, 2004 attacks by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda group that killed 191 people.
Annan called on U.N. members to put aside wrangling over the definition of terrorism that has for years obstructed agreement on an anti-terrorism treaty.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the conference that the fight against terrorism was being won “by nations that cherish freedom and democracy coming together to defend and project these values.”
Al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq said the group was obliged to “terrorize the enemies of God” in a relentless struggle and that it was certain of victory.
“No matter what you prepare, o you infidels, you will be defeated and will never be victorious because God has promised us victory,” it said in the statement. Washington says bin Laden has asked al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to plan attacks in the United States.