Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy have ruled out negotiations with al-Qaeda after a tape purported to be from Osama bin Laden offered a truce with Europe.
A spokesman claiming to be leader bin Laden made the offer in a tape recording aired on Arab satellite TV stations.
A CIA analysis has determined that the tape was "likely" to be the voice of bin Laden, a CIA official says.
Voice on a tape purported to be from Osama bin Laden
The voice on the tape, broadcast by Dubai-based Al Arabiya channel and then by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera station said there would be no truce with the United States.
It said a truce would only begin once all European soldiers quit "Islamic" countries, he said.
"I announce a truce with the European countries that do not attack Muslim
countries," the speaker said The message also vowed revenge on Israel for the death of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin, killed last month in Gaza.
The tape said the March 11th train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people were payment for Spain's actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.
The British Foreign Office said. "We can't negotiate with al-Qaeda. Their attacks are against the very idea of co-existence and conflict is their raison d'etre. To hide in the face of the threat is not an answer. The right response is to continue to confront terrorism not give in to its demands.
"To have a foreign policy dictated by fear of reprisal from Islamic fundamentalist terrorism would be to have a British foreign policy written by bin Laden."
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said: "It is completely unthinkable that we could start negotiations with bin Laden. Everyone understands that."
A German government spokesman said they would not negotiate. "There will be no negotiations with terrorists and serious criminals like Osama bin Laden. The international community must continue the fight against international terrorism toegther. Germany will continue to contribute to that," the spokesman said.
Germany refused to join the US-led war in Iraq and has ruled out sending soldiers there but has around 2,000 troops in Afghanistan overseeing reconstruction and disarming former fighters.
Incoming Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who is almost certain to withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq, said today he would only send armed forces abroad with international authority.
Mr Zapatero repeatedly has vowed to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq - sent by departing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar - unless the United Nations takes charge there by June 30th. "My position on the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq is well known," Mr Zapatero told parliament. "It's not my intention to reopen past debates."
The message said "the door to a truce is open for three months". This time frame, the voice said, could be extended. "The truce will begin when the last soldier leaves our countries," the speaker said without
elaborating.
The the tape also defended al-Qaeda's methods. "They say that we kill for the sake of killing, but reality shows that they lie," the speaker said.
He said Russians were only killed after attacking Afghanistan in the 1980s and Chechnya, Europeans after invading Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Americans in New York after "supporting the Jews in Palestine and their invasion of the Arabian Peninsula".
"Stop spilling our blood so we can stop spilling your blood," the message added. "This is a difficult but easy equation."