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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bin Laden Reaching Out Again
Aired February 12, 2003 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Osama bin Laden, at least it sounds like bin Laden. Well, he's reaching out again. A speaker said to be the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network has appeared on the Arabic news network Al Jazeera. U.S. officials are analyzing the tape to see if it is, indeed, bin Laden. Secretary of State Colin Powell says the comments urging Muslims to resist a U.S. attack on Iraq show a direct link to Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Once again, he speaks to the people of Iraq and talks about their struggle and how he is in partnership with Iraq. This nexus between terrorists and states that are developing weapons of mass destruction can no longer be looked away from and ignored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And we want to talk more about these possible bin Laden comments.
Our Mike Boettcher has been following bin Laden, so let's call it his career, for quite some time now.
Mike joins us live now from London -- good morning, Mike.
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Good morning, Carol.
This audiotape, which was aired by Al Jazeera, the Arabic language television network based in Qatar, it aired last night and it was billed as a message to the Iraqi people. And in it, bin Laden, if it is bin Laden, and most experts agree it is, in it he urges Iraqis, if attacked, to conduct martyrdom or suicide operations against U.S. and coalition forces.
Now, in this tape he gives a long, rambling speech about the lessons they'd learned, al Qaeda learned, in Afghanistan and urges Iraqis to do the same thing that they did, which was dig trenches.
Let's listen to that section of the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF OSAMA BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We know that the best way to confront this force is by building ditches and trenches in huge numbers and I talked about that during the war and the fight in Tora Bora, which the faithful were victorious. They were steadfast in their belief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOETTCHER: Now, in that battle at Tora Bora, intelligence sources tell us that Osama bin Laden was injured in the left shoulder and managed to escape to the Pakistan border, where it is believed he is still hiding, according to intelligence sources, but no one knows for sure.
But in terms of this tape and Saddam Hussein, U.S. authorities will try to make a connection between Iraq and Osama bin Laden. But this tape doesn't have a direct reference until 12 minutes in to Saddam Hussein. And at that point, Osama bin Laden says on the tape that it doesn't matter if the socialist, Saddam Hussein, disappears -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's right, Osama bin Laden doesn't seem to like Saddam Hussein particularly much either. Might Osama bin Laden just be using Iraq to gain his own ends and might there be no link at all between the two?
BOETTCHER: Well, I think what's indicative of his intent was that last comment I talked about. I think that Osama bin Laden would like to see an Iraq government in place that would be sympathetic to al Qaeda, that could provide havens.
Now, the U.S. alleges now that it is a haven and what you have working is perhaps the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That could be the case. And that's what the U.S. is alleging in terms of al Qaeda operating there now.
But historically, historically, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden have not liked each other. Now, that doesn't mean they haven't worked together for particular reasons. But there's no, no hard evidence of that, although the U.S. is alleging that and alleging that contacts between al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein have gone back to the mid-1990s, starting in the Sudan.
COSTELLO: Mike Boettcher, I know you've been up a long time and we appreciate your being here with us this morning on DAYBREAK.
Mike Boettcher live from London, thanks to you.
We'll see if the Bush administration will be talking bin Laden and Iraq today when we give a wake up call to our Senior White House Correspondent John King. That will happen in the next hour of DAYBREAK.
This talk of war has led to the nation being placed under a high terror alert. CIA Director George Tenet says the decision to ratchet up the alert status was not made casually.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: The intelligence is not idle chatter on the part of terrorists or their associates. It is the most specific we have seen and it is consistent with both our knowledge of al Qaeda's doctrine and our knowledge of plots in this network and particularly its senior leadership has been working for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding hearings on global threats to national security. Those hearings will resume this morning.
There has been some progress made in the NATO crisis over Iraq. NATO ambassadors have been meeting at their headquarters in Brussels this morning.
Our Matthew Chance is in the NATO capital watching the diplomatic maneuvering and he brings us the latest -- so it's going better today?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it's not clear, because NATO ambassadors are still engaged in emergency session crisis meetings in the NATO headquarters building behind me to try and hammer out a solution and get a consensus on providing Turkey with the military assistance it's been requesting.
NATO officials say they're not expecting a breakthrough in this morning's session, at the very least. But they say there is reason for optimism. A plan is on the table which involves a number of possibilities that could create the kind of consensus necessary. Exactly what isn't being spelled out to us. It could just simply be a tweaking of the wording to get France and Germany and Belgium on board with the other 16 allies.
Other NATO diplomatic sources, though, are saying there may be some quite significant changes to the original request from Turkey that would bring France and Germany on board. We're still waiting to see what the decision will be.
COSTELLO: Matthew, a question for you. Because they haven't been able to come up with some sort of consensus, how much has that affected the credibility of NATO?
CHANCE: I think it's affecting it a great deal, and certainly this is one of the big concerns of NATO officials we've been talking to. Image matters a great deal here and with all the countries that have recently joined NATO in the past few months, they were looking to the alliance, along with all the other 19 members, for the alliance to provide security when they requested it. On this occasion, Turkey has asked for protection and security. The NATO alliance has not been forthcoming so far.
COSTELLO: Matthew Chance reporting live from Brussels, Belgium this morning.
So what is next for the 50-year-old NATO alliance? Our Web site takes a look at that and so much more. And it's all just a click away, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 12, 2003 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Osama bin Laden, at least it sounds like bin Laden. Well, he's reaching out again. A speaker said to be the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network has appeared on the Arabic news network Al Jazeera. U.S. officials are analyzing the tape to see if it is, indeed, bin Laden. Secretary of State Colin Powell says the comments urging Muslims to resist a U.S. attack on Iraq show a direct link to Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Once again, he speaks to the people of Iraq and talks about their struggle and how he is in partnership with Iraq. This nexus between terrorists and states that are developing weapons of mass destruction can no longer be looked away from and ignored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And we want to talk more about these possible bin Laden comments.
Our Mike Boettcher has been following bin Laden, so let's call it his career, for quite some time now.
Mike joins us live now from London -- good morning, Mike.
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Good morning, Carol.
This audiotape, which was aired by Al Jazeera, the Arabic language television network based in Qatar, it aired last night and it was billed as a message to the Iraqi people. And in it, bin Laden, if it is bin Laden, and most experts agree it is, in it he urges Iraqis, if attacked, to conduct martyrdom or suicide operations against U.S. and coalition forces.
Now, in this tape he gives a long, rambling speech about the lessons they'd learned, al Qaeda learned, in Afghanistan and urges Iraqis to do the same thing that they did, which was dig trenches.
Let's listen to that section of the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF OSAMA BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We know that the best way to confront this force is by building ditches and trenches in huge numbers and I talked about that during the war and the fight in Tora Bora, which the faithful were victorious. They were steadfast in their belief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOETTCHER: Now, in that battle at Tora Bora, intelligence sources tell us that Osama bin Laden was injured in the left shoulder and managed to escape to the Pakistan border, where it is believed he is still hiding, according to intelligence sources, but no one knows for sure.
But in terms of this tape and Saddam Hussein, U.S. authorities will try to make a connection between Iraq and Osama bin Laden. But this tape doesn't have a direct reference until 12 minutes in to Saddam Hussein. And at that point, Osama bin Laden says on the tape that it doesn't matter if the socialist, Saddam Hussein, disappears -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That's right, Osama bin Laden doesn't seem to like Saddam Hussein particularly much either. Might Osama bin Laden just be using Iraq to gain his own ends and might there be no link at all between the two?
BOETTCHER: Well, I think what's indicative of his intent was that last comment I talked about. I think that Osama bin Laden would like to see an Iraq government in place that would be sympathetic to al Qaeda, that could provide havens.
Now, the U.S. alleges now that it is a haven and what you have working is perhaps the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That could be the case. And that's what the U.S. is alleging in terms of al Qaeda operating there now.
But historically, historically, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden have not liked each other. Now, that doesn't mean they haven't worked together for particular reasons. But there's no, no hard evidence of that, although the U.S. is alleging that and alleging that contacts between al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein have gone back to the mid-1990s, starting in the Sudan.
COSTELLO: Mike Boettcher, I know you've been up a long time and we appreciate your being here with us this morning on DAYBREAK.
Mike Boettcher live from London, thanks to you.
We'll see if the Bush administration will be talking bin Laden and Iraq today when we give a wake up call to our Senior White House Correspondent John King. That will happen in the next hour of DAYBREAK.
This talk of war has led to the nation being placed under a high terror alert. CIA Director George Tenet says the decision to ratchet up the alert status was not made casually.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE TENET, CIA DIRECTOR: The intelligence is not idle chatter on the part of terrorists or their associates. It is the most specific we have seen and it is consistent with both our knowledge of al Qaeda's doctrine and our knowledge of plots in this network and particularly its senior leadership has been working for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding hearings on global threats to national security. Those hearings will resume this morning.
There has been some progress made in the NATO crisis over Iraq. NATO ambassadors have been meeting at their headquarters in Brussels this morning.
Our Matthew Chance is in the NATO capital watching the diplomatic maneuvering and he brings us the latest -- so it's going better today?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it's not clear, because NATO ambassadors are still engaged in emergency session crisis meetings in the NATO headquarters building behind me to try and hammer out a solution and get a consensus on providing Turkey with the military assistance it's been requesting.
NATO officials say they're not expecting a breakthrough in this morning's session, at the very least. But they say there is reason for optimism. A plan is on the table which involves a number of possibilities that could create the kind of consensus necessary. Exactly what isn't being spelled out to us. It could just simply be a tweaking of the wording to get France and Germany and Belgium on board with the other 16 allies.
Other NATO diplomatic sources, though, are saying there may be some quite significant changes to the original request from Turkey that would bring France and Germany on board. We're still waiting to see what the decision will be.
COSTELLO: Matthew, a question for you. Because they haven't been able to come up with some sort of consensus, how much has that affected the credibility of NATO?
CHANCE: I think it's affecting it a great deal, and certainly this is one of the big concerns of NATO officials we've been talking to. Image matters a great deal here and with all the countries that have recently joined NATO in the past few months, they were looking to the alliance, along with all the other 19 members, for the alliance to provide security when they requested it. On this occasion, Turkey has asked for protection and security. The NATO alliance has not been forthcoming so far.
COSTELLO: Matthew Chance reporting live from Brussels, Belgium this morning.
So what is next for the 50-year-old NATO alliance? Our Web site takes a look at that and so much more. And it's all just a click away, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
