MAIL ONLINE: Osama bin Laden blamed the United States and other industrialised countries for causing global warming in an extraordinary message issued yesterday.
In a departure from his usual religious rants, the Al Qaeda leader lectured on the dangers of climate change, claiming the only solution was to 'bring the wheels of the American economy' to a halt.
Rather than vows to inflict death and destruction on the U.S. and its allies, the man behind the September 11 atrocity in New York discussed the environmental future of the planet and monetary policy.
'This is a message to the whole world about those who are causing climate change, whether deliberately or not, and what we should do about that,' he declared.
He blamed Western industrialised nations for hunger, causing flooding and the destruction of fertile ground across the globe.
And he warned solutions must be 'drastic' rather than 'partial'.
Although bin Laden has briefly referred to climate change and global warming in past messages, this fresh audiotape was his first dedicated to the topic.
The speech, which included almost no religious rhetoric, has been interpreted as an attempt by the terror leader to broaden the appeal of his message beyond Islamic militants.
'Talk about climate change is not an ideological luxury but a reality,' he said in the tape released to the Al Jazeera television network, adding: 'All of the industrialised countries, especially the big ones, bear responsibility.'
Bin Laden referred to the fact that while wealthy nations had agreed to the Kyoto Protocol that binds them to emissions targets, former U.S. President George Bush later rejected such limitations in deference to big business.
He called for a boycott of American products and the end of the U.S. dollar as a world currency. >>> Mail Foreign Service | Friday, January 29, 2010
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, has condemned the US and other industrial economies, holding them responsible for the phenomenon of climate change.
In an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera, bin Laden criticised George Bush, the former US president, for rejecting the Kyoto pact and condemned global corporations.
"This is a message to the whole world about those responsible for climate change and its repercussions - whether intentionally or unintentionally - and about the action we must take," bin Laden said.
"Speaking about climate change is not a matter of intellectual luxury - the phenomenon is an actual fact." >>> | Friday, January 29, 2010
