January 28
THE Taliban has called on Barack Obama to close all "evil" US detention centres for militants, "completely withdraw" from Iraq and Afghanistan and "stop defending Israel".
The online message, a copy of which was obtained from the SITE Intelligence Group, called on the new US President to take these steps to reverse the “satanic policies” of his predecessor, George W Bush.
“Obama's move to close Guantanamo detention centre is a positive step for peace and stability in the region and the world,” said the message, which was posted on online jihadist forums.
“If Barack Obama sincerely wants real stability and peace in the world, he should not only close Guantanamo.
“Rather, he should void all those evil projects established in the light of Bush's satanic perspective of instability in the world.”
Mr Obama signed executive orders in his first week in office to ban torture, shut secret overseas CIA detention centres and close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some 245 detainees are still held.
The Guantanamo prison camp was established in 2002 as a means to hold detainees beyond the reach of US courts.
The US also holds approximately 600 detainees at the US airbase in Bagram, Afghanistan, the fate of which Obama has not yet decreed.
On Monday, Mr Obama gave his first formal interview as president, in which he told the Muslim world that “Americans are not your enemy”.
“We are going to follow through on many of my commitments to do a more effective job of reaching out, listening as well as speaking to the Muslim world,” he said in the interview with Al-Arabiya, a pan-Arab and Saudi-owned satellite television network.
“If Obama is right and, according to his words, wants to open a new page based on peaceful interaction built on mutual respect with the Islamic world, the first thing he has to do is to stop and annul all these (Middle East policy) procedures, which were created according to Bush's criminal policy,” the Taliban message said.
“He must completely withdraw all his forces from the two occupied Islamic countries (Afghanistan and Iraq), and to stop defending Israel against Islamic interest in the Middle East and the entire world.”
Living up to a key campaign promise, Obama has directed military planners to start formulating a proposal to get most US combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months.
He has also pledged to boost US forces in Afghanistan, amid deteriorating security.
The Pentagon has promised to deploy up to 30,000 additional forces to Afghanistan to combat the insurgency led by the Taliban and al-Qaeda, nearly doubling the 36,000-strong US force there.
Obama argued last week that the war in Afghanistan, which he called “the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism,” could not be separated from the volatile border area with Pakistan, where al-Qaeda and Taliban elements have regrouped.
The Taliban issued a stern warning to Obama should he not heed their advice.
“It is imperative that Obama, before he gets hit with the same fate as the Communist empire, must find potential ways to carry a message of peace and stability to the world,” the message said.
The Soviet Union left Afghanistan in defeat in 1989 after a war that lasted more than nine years.
“Through this, he can also protect his people and his administration from the danger of elimination and decline.”
In the Al-Arabiya interview, Obama agreed that the highly personal tone of recent al-Qaeda messages seemed “nervous”.
“What that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt,” he told the Dubai-based network.
THE Taliban has called on Barack Obama to close all "evil" US detention centres for militants, "completely withdraw" from Iraq and Afghanistan and "stop defending Israel".
The online message, a copy of which was obtained from the SITE Intelligence Group, called on the new US President to take these steps to reverse the “satanic policies” of his predecessor, George W Bush.
“Obama's move to close Guantanamo detention centre is a positive step for peace and stability in the region and the world,” said the message, which was posted on online jihadist forums.
“If Barack Obama sincerely wants real stability and peace in the world, he should not only close Guantanamo.
“Rather, he should void all those evil projects established in the light of Bush's satanic perspective of instability in the world.”
Mr Obama signed executive orders in his first week in office to ban torture, shut secret overseas CIA detention centres and close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some 245 detainees are still held.
The Guantanamo prison camp was established in 2002 as a means to hold detainees beyond the reach of US courts.
The US also holds approximately 600 detainees at the US airbase in Bagram, Afghanistan, the fate of which Obama has not yet decreed.
On Monday, Mr Obama gave his first formal interview as president, in which he told the Muslim world that “Americans are not your enemy”.
“We are going to follow through on many of my commitments to do a more effective job of reaching out, listening as well as speaking to the Muslim world,” he said in the interview with Al-Arabiya, a pan-Arab and Saudi-owned satellite television network.
“If Obama is right and, according to his words, wants to open a new page based on peaceful interaction built on mutual respect with the Islamic world, the first thing he has to do is to stop and annul all these (Middle East policy) procedures, which were created according to Bush's criminal policy,” the Taliban message said.
“He must completely withdraw all his forces from the two occupied Islamic countries (Afghanistan and Iraq), and to stop defending Israel against Islamic interest in the Middle East and the entire world.”
Living up to a key campaign promise, Obama has directed military planners to start formulating a proposal to get most US combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months.
He has also pledged to boost US forces in Afghanistan, amid deteriorating security.
The Pentagon has promised to deploy up to 30,000 additional forces to Afghanistan to combat the insurgency led by the Taliban and al-Qaeda, nearly doubling the 36,000-strong US force there.
Obama argued last week that the war in Afghanistan, which he called “the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism,” could not be separated from the volatile border area with Pakistan, where al-Qaeda and Taliban elements have regrouped.
The Taliban issued a stern warning to Obama should he not heed their advice.
“It is imperative that Obama, before he gets hit with the same fate as the Communist empire, must find potential ways to carry a message of peace and stability to the world,” the message said.
The Soviet Union left Afghanistan in defeat in 1989 after a war that lasted more than nine years.
“Through this, he can also protect his people and his administration from the danger of elimination and decline.”
In the Al-Arabiya interview, Obama agreed that the highly personal tone of recent al-Qaeda messages seemed “nervous”.
“What that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt,” he told the Dubai-based network.
Source: The Australian
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