Posted on 07/16/2004 1:49:28 PM PDT by TexKat
CAIRO, Egypt - A statement purportedly written by an al-Qaida-linked group threatened to launch attacks on Italian soil if Premier Silvio Berlusconi remains in office.
The statement, signed by the Brigades of Abu Hafs al-Masri and posted Friday on an Internet site known for carrying extremist Islamic content, follows the expiration of a three-month offer of a terrorism truce purportedly made by Osama bin Laden to European states, including Italy.
"Either you get rid of the inefficient Berlusconi, or we will really burn Italy," the undated statement said, adding, "Berlusconi is dragging you into more blood plus absolute slavery to America."
There was no way to verify the authenticity of the statement.
The Italian government didn't immediately respond to the new threat. Berlusconi, a staunch supporter of President Bush, said recently that the Italian contingent would stay in Iraq until democracy takes hold.
The premier, however, has faced strong opposition for his pro-U.S. stance, and many here have called for a troops' withdrawal.
The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade is a shadowy group that takes its name from a top al-Qaida lieutenant who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan (news - web sites) in 2001. It has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Western targets, including the March 11 train bombings in Madrid. Counterterrorism experts question whether the group has any agents capable of launching attacks and say some of its claims are obviously false or exaggerated.
The latest statement attributed to the group urges Italians to get rid of their premier or "the next message will be on your land not on the Internet," threatening to use "unconventional weapons" in a strike similar to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
"We are in Italy, and not one of you is safe so long as you refuse our sheik's (bin Laden's) offer (for a truce)," said the statement, which appeared in Italian and Arabic.
"We will turn his promise into reality. A bloodbath similar to Sept. 11 awaits you," the statement said. "We are able to aim at qualitative targets with unconventional weapons that will cause a grand catastrophe."
Italy sent 3,000 troops to Iraq after the ouster of Saddam Hussein to help rebuild the country. The contingent is based in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
In November, a truck bombing at an Italian barracks in southern Iraq killed 19 Italians, the country's worst military loss since World War II. In May, an Italian soldier died of wounds suffered in a battle with militants believed loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
I refer to the Italian who tore of the blindfold and told his captors "This is how an Italian dies!"
That is just the sort of close minded attiude that john kerry is out to fix.
lol, true.
If Italy caves, I have no hope for the USA not too as well. The pussys on the left and the middle will cower to their demands.
Eh, you AQ goombas -- uppa yours!!!
It's inconceivable that al-Qaeda would do this considering the results of their terrorist attacks against the U.N. HQ in Iraq and the train station in Spain. < /sarcasm >
We were the ones attacked. If we have to go it alone, so be it. The appeasement currently on display in Europe will only lead to greater destruction. Eventually they will have no choice but to fight.
Let’s Role
Well, we'll see soon whether Italy will continue to pick its own leaders or let jihadis do it for them.
In the name of Allah the compassionate, the merciful
That Allah may be exalted...
This is an ultimatum to the Italian people. Either get rid of Berlusconi, the Incapable, or -specifically- we will burn Italy. This is a clear equation. We're indicating, to clear our conscience at this point, that you have been warned. After this, the next message you will see on your earth - you won't be reading it on an Internet site.
Berlusconi promises you only blood and total slavery to the United States...I remind you again of the great Italian journalist Antonio Rosso who was killed by Putin's secret service because he shared in the suffering of our brothers in Chechnya where he was welcome. Berlusconi has not lifted a finger to ask for an open investigation into that murder. (Repeats)
Don't let yourselves be fooled by the media that controls and directs Berlusconi. And try to learn the objective facts. We are not bloodthirsty animals or stupid fanatics like we are described in Berlusconi's media. We are intelligent, upstanding people from a great Muslim culture, we are people who see Muslims oppressed and tortured in all parts of the world because of the Western world and by the dictatorial and totalitarian regimes from the West.
I am sure that the media of Berlusconi will say this is a message of pure threat and that we will kill Fouad Allam, or another deficient view - they are trying to trick you by saying Fouad Allam and his cohorts represent the true Islam, peaceful and that refuses violence...
Don't let yourselves be fooled. Free yourselves from the superiority complex typical of the West with respect to the Muslim world. Know that the so-called moderate government is your worst enemies and that Islam answers violence with a violence proportionate to preserving our dignity and that which prohibits us from turning the other cheek.
We also know that the first lines of this message are not a threat, but an attempt to show you the real truth that we are ready to strike targets of a new type with unconventional weapons that will cause a massacre of huge dimensions. A man who has decided to give up his life in order to serve his cause is worth a whole army. September 11 is the best example.
We are in Italy and by now no one in Italy is safe if you continue to ignore the terms (or offers) of my sheik. We are well prepared ( with the help of Allah ) to transform this promise into reality...A bloodbath similar to September 11 is knocking at Italy's door.
We will write with our blood and with that of thousands of Italians a page that will remain chiseled in Italian history...
Peace to who chooses the path to salvation...
Nice Freudian slip! ("Role" instead of "Roll")
If fate should place me in a similar circumstance, may I have the courage that was Fabrizio Quattrocchi.
A name to remember.
Good points made.Howevere , everyone is forgetting one thing:The spanish President wasn`t defeated because of the terrorist bombing in Spain. Rather, he was defeated because he insisted, stubbornly, that it WAS NOT Al Qaeda but the Basque separatists who were reponsible for the train bombing.He was defeated for trying to conceal the Al Quaeda link, from his own people.
I sure hope you are right. What nags at me, is that the same things were said about Spain right after the bombings there.
We all thought it would strengten their resolve.
I know they can't shake Berlusconi personally, but what about the voters?
Exactly.
He wasn't trying to conceal it. He announced it, once the actual evidence was in, 12 hours after the attack. The media, on the other hand, announced minutes after the attack that it was a suicide bomber, etc. - which it wasn't - but they had already stirred up such hysteria that no one even noticed the official pronouncements throughout the day, as more evidence appeared that it was not ETA. (In fact, one of ETA's representatives himself said he iniitally thought that it was ETA, and he was preparing to flee the country because he thought the backlash would be so severe.)
The real problem was the manipulation of the whole event by the Socialist Party, the leftist peace groups, and the press. Incidentally, they are now having "hearings" in Spain in which, as a number of people are commenting, it looks like they are trying to blame the terrorist attack on Aznar rather than AQ. Sound familiar?
They are peeling them off one by one.
Thank you Spain, the Phillippines, some CA countries that were there with Spain etc. Is Japan in or out?
War on the cheap.
I would say "Tu pari ti chiavi a mammata" to the author of the threat.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.