Bin Laden urges jihad in Sudan

SUDAN: Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has called for Muslims in Sudan to wage "Jihad" against peacekeeping forces in the country…

SUDAN:Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has called for Muslims in Sudan to wage "Jihad" against peacekeeping forces in the country. He urged "people of Islam" in the state and surrounding areas to attack the combined United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force to remove them.

Part of the speech was released on Monday but IntelCenter, a US- based company that studies terrorist groups, yesterday produced a full transcript of his comments. On foreign troops in Sudan, Bin Laden said: "This is a brazen occupation, and only an infidel apostate seeks it or agrees to it.

"So it is the duty of the people of Islam in the Sudan and its environs, especially the Arabian peninsula, to perform Jihad against the Crusader invaders and wage armed rebellion to remove those who let them in."

Bin Laden also called for insurgents in Iraq to unite and avoid divisions, a response to moves by some Sunni Arabs who have joined US troops in fighting al-Qaeda and formed coalitions with other insurgents against al-Qaeda.