Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network this morning sent a message to Muslims across the world to join a jihad or holy war against the US and its allies.
The Taliban said later it had given bin Laden permission to launch a jihad because of the US-led air raids ( Full text of al-Qaeda statement).
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"Jihad is an obligation on all Muslims of the world," Taliban spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmaen told the BBC. "We want this, bin Laden wants this and America will face the unpleasant consequences of their attacks."
In an address on the Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera, a spokesman for al-Qaeda, Sulemain Abu Gheit, threatened a new wave of suicide attacks.
"There are thousands of young people who look forward to death", he claimed.
Gheit described the US-led attacks on Afghanistan in recent days as a "terrorist crusade".
"America must know that the [Muslim] nation will not keep quiet. The jihad is a duty of every Muslim. God says fight for the sake of God and to uphold the name of God," read the Al-Qaeda statement.
"The American interests are everywhere, all over the world. The battle will not leave Islam until America leaves our lands, until it stops supporting Israel.
"The Americans must know that by coming to Afghanistan, they have opened a new page in the battle against the unbelievers. We shall be victorious. America has opened a door that will never be closed."
The Taliban said it has lifted restrictions on Osama bin Laden so he can organise his holy war.
He had reportedly previously been barred by the regime from using telephones, fax machines and the Internet.
AP