Bin Laden Message Urges Holy War In Darfur

Osama Bin Laden renewed his call for a holy war against a proposed peacekeeping force in Sudan's wartorn region of Darfur in a message that appeared on Web sites Tuesday.

The audio recording was accompanied by a still picture of the al Qaeda leader, and excerpts were aired Monday by Al-Jazeera television.

Bin Laden called for foreign forces to be driven from Darfur.

"It is the duty of the people of Islam in the Sudan and its environs, especially the Arabian Peninsula, to perform jihad against the Crusader invaders and wage armed rebellion to remove those who let them in," he said, according to a transcript provided by IntelCenter, which monitors extremist Web sites.

Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawhiri, made a similar call for jihad in Darfur in a Sept. 20 video message, and bin Laden issued an audiotape in 2006 calling on his followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed U.N. force there.

In Tuesday's message, bin Laden referred to talks between Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, and Saudi officials who pressed him to agree to a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. Those meetings took place in March and April.

In the sections of the message broadcast Monday, bin Laden took the highly uncharacteristic step of acknowledging that al Qaeda had made mistakes and chiding followers for not uniting their ranks - a reference to the squabbles among various insurgent groups in Iraq.

"Everybody can make a mistake, but the best of them are those who admit their mistakes," he said. "Mistakes have been made during holy wars but mujahideen have to correct their mistakes."

Al-Jazeera's decision to air only that critical part of the audio rather than the lengthy opening section, which applauded insurgent victories in Iraq, appeared to have angered the militants.

One militant Web site that is a clearing house for al Qaeda and other extremist videos announced the message would appear uncut in its entirety, as opposed to the way it was broadcast by al-Jazeera.

"The shameful and dissolute channel is seeking to support the Crusaders and the enemies," said an angry posting on the site. "The channel is the shame of the Islamic community.

The rest of bin Laden's message applauded the insurgents in Iraq for a job well done and told them to remain steadfast in the face of the increase in coalition forces, singling out the fighters in Diyala in particular.

"You massacred the enemy and applied yourself to fighting them, until they became prisoners of their bases and the Green Zone, fearing danger. So continue to make the soldiers of unbelief drink from the bitter cup of death," he said.

Bin Laden also urged Arabs across the region to join the fight in Iraq.