Bin Laden threatens US over alleged 9/11 plotter

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden threatened in a new audio recording released Thursday to kill any captured Americans if the US executes the self-professed mastermind of the Sept.11 attacks or any other al-Qaida suspects.

The US is still considering whether to put Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four of his fellow plotters on military tribunal for their role in the Sept. 11 attacks. The Obama administration is also looking into recommendations for civilian trials, and is expected to announce a decision soon.

In a brief 74-second audio tape aired on Al-Jazeera television, bin Laden said if the US decides to execute any al-Qaida suspects in its custody - and explicitly mentioned Mohammed - his terror network would kill American captives.

The terror leader said such a decision "would mean the US has issued a death sentence against whoever of you becomes a prisoner in our hands."

It was not immediately clear whether al-Qaida is currently has any US captives, but the Haqqani group - the Pakistan-based Taliban faction closest to al-Qaida - is holding an American soldier it captured in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. It released a video of him in December.

Bin Laden said US President Barack Obama is following in the footsteps of his predecessor George W. Bush by escalating the war in Afghanistan, being "unjust" to al-Qaida prisoners and supporting Israel in its occupation of Palestinian land.

In a veiled threat, bin Laden said Americans had previously thought their homeland was beyond the reach of his group until the 9/11 attack.

Mohammed, who was captured in Pakistan in 2003, is the most senior al-Qaida operative in US custody, and is currently in detention at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In 2008, the US charged him with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Pentagon officials have said they'll seek the death penalty.

基地组织头目奥萨马•本•拉登在本周四公布的一段录音中威胁称，如果美国处死其所认定的9•11恐怖袭击幕后主谋或涉嫌制造该事件的基地组织其他成员，他就将处决所有被囚禁的美国人。

目前美国仍在考虑是否将其认定的主谋哈立德•谢克•默罕默德和他的四名同伙送上军事法庭。奥巴马政府也在考虑采取民事审判的建议，并且将很快做出决定。

在半岛电视台播出的这段仅有74秒的录音中，本•拉登表示，如果美国决定处死在押的任何基地组织成员，他的恐怖组织网络就将处死他们所关押的美国俘虏，其中明确提到默罕默德。

这名恐怖组织头目称，只要美国做出这个决定，就相当于“决定处死我们关押的美国囚犯”。

目前还不清楚基地组织现在是否关押有美国俘虏，但总部位于巴基斯坦的塔利班分支机构、与基地组织关系最密切的哈卡尼组织现在正关押2009年6月在阿富汗东部逮捕的一名美国士兵。该组织于去年12月公布了他的一段视频录像。

本•拉登称，美国总统贝拉克•奥巴马正走其前任小布什的老路。他不仅增兵阿富汗，“不公正地”对待基地组织囚犯，还支持以色列占领巴勒斯坦领土。

本·拉登还隐晦威胁称，直到9•11事件的发生，美国人才意识到他们的国土并非远离基地组织的手掌。

默罕默德于2003年在巴基斯坦被捕，是美国关押的级别最高的基地组织成员，目前他被关押在古巴关塔那摩湾的美国海军基地。2008年，美国指控其与9•11恐怖袭击事件有关联，犯有谋杀罪和战争罪。美国国防部官员已表示，他们将寻求判处其死刑。