Sep 28, 2001

Bin Laden Reportedly Says U.S. Ban on Assets Won't Hurt His Movement, Denies Sponsoring Terrorism

The Associated Press

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Osama bin Laden, the top suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, says Washington's move to freeze assets of groups linked to his al-Qaida movement will not curtail his activities, a newspaper reported Friday.

The report appeared in the Urdu-language newspaper Ummat, which is published in Karachi. The newspaper said it submitted questions for bin Laden to Taliban officials and received written replies. Efforts to contact Taliban officials to confirm were unsuccessful.

"Freezing of the assets or accounts of al-Qaida or any other jihad (holy war) organization won't make any difference," Ummat quoted bin Laden as saying.

According to the newspaper, bin Laden said al-Qaida has three alternate financial systems, which are being run separately and independently by those "who love jihad," he said. No power in the world, including the United States, could force them from this path, he added.

President Bush on Monday ordered a freeze on the assets of 27 people and organizations with suspected links to terrorism, including bin Laden and al-Qaida.

In the interview, bin Laden said his vast network of thousands of sympathizers will not be affected by Bush's move because its members include financial experts who know all the loopholes in the global financial system.

Bin Laden - a millionaire Saudi exile living in Afghanistan since 1996 - repeated denials that he was behind the Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Bush administration has demanded the Taliban hand him over to the United States or face retribution.

Bin Laden claimed the Western media were spreading propaganda against him. "They are saying such absurd things about us that we wonder (whether) they have become the victim of their own propaganda and began to fear it," he said.

Islam does not permit the killing of innocent women, children or men, even during war, he said. "I have said this before that I have no connection with the Sept. 11 attacks in America ... nor any information about it."

The newspaper has not been a conduit for bin Laden statements in the past.

AP-ES-09-28-01 1036EDT

This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAJ7O336SC.html

-- Anonymous, September 28, 2001