BBCNews . 14 October
The statement was transmitted on al-Jazeera TV
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a spokesman for Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda group, has said the group will retaliate against the US and UK for the air strikes on Afghanistan. Below is the full text of his videotaped statement:
"Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds, and may God's peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, may he and all his household and companions be blessed by God.
"Based on the questions and queries that we have received regarding how we view the incidents that have taken place over the past five days, we would like to say that the crusade spearheaded by the two crusaders Bush and Blair is continuing on the territory of Muslim Afghanistan and its population, who are demonstrating day in and day out their sacrifices, firmness and determination to uphold their religion and creed.
"We pray to the Almighty God to hold their feet firmly, to strengthen their resolve, and to grant them victory over the infidels.
"We also would like to declare our full support for this emirate and for the Muslim Afghan people in the face of this ferocious assault, offering all the material and moral resources that we have under the command of Mullah Muhammad Omar, commander of the faithful, may God protect him and grant him certain victory.
"This holds true regardless of the duration of the war. The issue at hand is the issue of an entire nation that opposes humiliation and subservience under the yoke of US arrogance and Jewish persecution.
"The Al-Qaeda organization declares that Bush Senior, Bush Junior, Clinton, Blair and Sharon are the arch-criminals from among the Zionists and Crusaders who committed the most heinous actions and atrocities against the Muslim nation.
"They perpetrated murders, torture and displacement. Millions of Muslim men, women and children died without any fault of their own.
"Al-Qaeda stresses that the blood of those killed will not go to waste, God willing, until we punish these criminals.
'Enduring freedom'
"Bush, in the midst of his arrogance, media frenzy, and the enduring freedom that he boasts about must not forget the video footage of Muhammad al-Durrah [a Palestinian child killed by Israeli troops in the early days of the Palestinian intifada in the Gaza Strip] and his brothers, Muslim children in Palestine and Iraq.
"If he forgot that scene, then we will never forget it. He must know that his 'enduring freedom' which he boasts of has wiped out entire villages in Nangahar near Jalalabad in Afghanistan.
"Villages were completely wiped out. It was not a mistake but a deliberate action. What mistake is that which is repeated three times?
"This village was bombed in the beginning of night, in the middle of the night, and before dawn.
"Those who supported this Crusader campaign should realise after things have been clarified that it is a Crusader campaign against Islam and the Muslims.
"Those who supported those criminals go away from Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, who said that the destruction of earth is more tolerable to God than killing a believer without cause.
"What would they say when their deeds are displayed in front of God, praise be to him? What would they say when the female infant buried alive is questioned?
'Leave the Arabian peninsula'
"In this regard, we support the religious rulings issued by senior clerics in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by His Eminence Shaykh Humud Bin-Uqlah al-Shu'aybi, who said that it is impermissible to co-operate with Jews and Christians and that he who co-operates with them and gives them his opinion or take actions in supporting them becomes apostate and revokes his faith in God and his Prophet, may God's peace and blessings be upon him.
"Al-Qaeda organisation orders the Americans and the infidels in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the Americans and the British, to leave the Arabian peninsula.
"If the mothers of these need their sons then they should ask them to leave the Arabian peninsula, because the land will be set on fire under their feet, God willing.
"In this regard we greet the mujahidin youths who knew their role and the way to respond to the aggression of the unjust, and killed them.
"We also greet the Muslims, both in the East and West, who staged demonstrations rejecting this criminal aggression, repression, and injustice.
"We say to them that they should continue this pressure, especially since the Islamic countries' foreign ministers announced their support for this unjust campaign.
"These do not represent the nation in any case. They do not have the legitimacy that qualifies them to dispose of the nation's destiny and resolutions.
"As for the decisions made by Bush and the US administration to prevent satellite channels and world news agencies from making our voice heard in the world, then this is clear evidence that the US administration fears the revelation of the truth that led to the Tuesday events.
"This truth shows that Bush is an agent of Israel and sacrifices his people and his country's economy for those and helps them occupy the Muslims' land and persecute their sons.
'Aircraft storm'
"Finally, I address the US secretary of state, who cast doubt about my previous statement and downplayed what we said that there are thousands of Muslim youths who are eager to die and that the aircraft storm will not stop, God willing.
"Powell, and others in the US administration, know that if al-Qaeda organisation promises or threatens, it fulfils its promise or threat, God willing.
"Therefore, we tell him tomorrow is not far for he who waits for it. What will happen is what you are going to see and not what you hear.
"And the storms will not calm, especially the aircraft storm.
"These storms will not calm until you retreat in defeated in Afghanistan, stop your assistance to the Jews in Palestine, end the siege imposed on the Iraqi people, leave the Arabian Peninsula, and stop your support for the Hindus against the Muslims in Kashmir.
"We also say and advise the Muslims in the United States and Britain, the children, and those who reject the unjust US policy not to travel by plane.
"We also advise them not to live in high-rise buildings and towers.
"But honour belongs to God, and his Apostle, and to the believers; but the hypocrites know not.
"Peace and God's blessings be upon you."