© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida
terrorist network is once again warning of a major and
imminent strike inside the U.S., according to
WorldTribune.com.
The al-Qaida warning was relayed via the Tajamu
Reform Party of Yemen in a statement proposing terms of
reconciliation with the government which has been under
pressure to cooperate with the United States in the war
on terrorism, according to the report.
"A major strike, a big event will take place in
America soon," the statement said.
In its statement, al-Qaida termed Sanaa as the second
most cooperative partner in the U.S.-led war against the
Islamic insurgency movement. The group said Pakistan was
the chief ally of the United States.
Yemen has acknowledged that it cooperated with the
United States in the assassination of Abu Sinan Ali Al
Harithi, the leading al-Qaida insurgent in Yemen, in
December 2002, Middle East Newsline reported.
Yemeni Vice President Abbed Rabbo Mansour said Yemen
turned to the CIA for help in tracking and killing Al
Harithi, who was targeted by a Predator unmanned air
vehicle armed with an anti-tank missile.
The Tajamu Reform Party has been regarded as an ally
of bin Laden, whose family comes from Yemen.
"The branch of the organization in Yemen promised the
state – as a goodwill gesture – that the initiative will
be favored by Sheik Osama bin Laden or one of the senior
leaders of the global al-Qaida organization, through a
communique or statement in which the subject will be
referred implicitly or explicitly," a statement released
by the so-called Yemeni branch of al-Qaida and published
in Al Sahwanet, the mouthpiece of the Islamic-oriented
opposition party, said.
In the statement, al-Qaida offered to reconcile with
Yemen.
Bin Laden was said to have offered a deal to end
attacks against Western interests in Yemen in exchange
for allowing insurgents freedom of movement. Yemen has
been under heavy U.S. and Saudi pressure to cooperate in
operations against al-Qaida.
Al Qaida, the statement said, wanted Yemen to allow
Islamic insurgents to fight the United States and Israel
in such countries as Afghanistan, Iraq and the
Palestinian Authority. Yemen, however, was said to have
rejected the proposal.