European nations reject purported truce offer from bin Laden

Friday, April 16th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ Key European nations emphatically dismissed a truce offer purportedly from Osama bin Laden, refusing to negotiate with his al-Qaida terror network and rejecting what many called a blatant attempt to divide the United States and its allies.

France and Germany, staunch opponents of the Iraq war, denounced the tape, as did Britain, Spain and Italy. The recording offered ``a truce to European countries ... to any country which does not carry out an onslaught against Muslims or interfere in their affairs.''

CIA analysts said the tape was likely an authentic recording of the al-Qaida chief. Broadcast Thursday on Arab TV stations, it was the first since January attributed to bin Laden, believed to be hiding in mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The recording was apparently made in recent weeks, the CIA said, because it includes a reference to Israel's killing on March 22 of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

One analyst said the three-month truce offer might contain a message to militants to hold back on attacks against Europe. Others said the recording marked a subtle shift in strategy by bin Laden, aiming to exploit differences between the United States and Europe over Iraq rather than attacking the West in general.

``For the most part he has tended to lump all of the West in the same category, saying in effect, 'You're all evil,''' a counterterrorism official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ``This is a departure, in that it's more of an attempt to cause division.''

The message also serves to inform the world _ and possibly al-Qaida followers _ that bin Laden is alive amid a heightened military hunt for him.

Charles Heyman, an analyst at Jane's Defense Weekly, called the tape ``a not very subtle attempt to break whatever coalition there is and to destabilize the situation in Iraq.''

Analyst Bruce Hoffman of the Rand Corporation, said the new tactic was ``not entirely surprising given his record of opportunism'' and past threats against European nations cooperating with the U.S. war on terror.

He noted that last year, bin Laden threatened a number of European nations cooperating with the United States in the fight against terrorism, to no effect.

``Like any good psychological warfare officer he's changing his message subtly and altering his tactics slightly but trying to achieve the same effect'' of widening the gap between the United States and its European allies.

In Italy, a nation shocked by the killing of an Italian civilian captured by militants in Iraq, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said it was ``unthinkable that we may open a negotiation with bin Laden, everybody understands this.''

French President Jacques Chirac, one of the firmest opponents of the war that ousted Saddam Hussein, was equally clear: ``No dealings are possible with terrorists.''

Germany, which is now helping train Iraqi police, also strongly rejected the truce offer. ``Any attempt to split Europe will fail,'' said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said that he was pleased by the reaction and that Europeans are saying they ``will not be terrorized by these terrorists.''

The speaker on the tape appealed to European public opinion, saying the truce offer was ``a reconciliation initiative in response to the recent positive developments that have appeared'' _ an apparent reference to the defeat of Spain's pro-Iraq war government after March 11 bombings that killed 191 people in Madrid.

Yet Spain's incoming Socialist government _ which promised to pull all 1,300 Spanish troops out of Iraq _ also denounced the message. ``What we want is peace, democracy and freedom,'' incoming Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said.

The message said ``the door to a truce is open for three months,'' but the period could be extended. ``The truce will begin when the last soldier leaves our countries,'' the speaker said without elaborating.

``I am offering a truce to European countries,'' the speaker said. ``Its core is our commitment to cease operations against any country which does not carry out an onslaught against Muslims or interfere in their affairs.''

Analysts said the tape was an attempt to encourage Europeans to press their governments to stop supporting U.S. military operations in Muslim nations.

It also could be a message to al-Qaida sympathizers to stop European operations that might have the result of galvanizing support for President Bush's war on terror, said Montasser el-Zayat, an Egyptian lawyer who defends Islamic radicals.

``Bin Laden is seeing how those bombings (in Madrid) were used by the Americans to pressure Europe into more action,'' he said. ``This tape is a message to those groups to cease these actions.''

The speaker described the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the Madrid bombings as revenge strikes, although he did not directly claim al-Qaida was responsible.

The voice on the tape said that ``what happened on Sept. 11 and March 11 was your goods delivered back to you.''

A truce, the message said, would deny ``the warmongers'' further opportunities. Polls have shown that ``most of the European peoples want reconciliation'' with the Islamic world, it said.

Britain, which supported the war and has 8,700 troops in Iraq, rejected the notion it would remove its soldiers in return for immunity from attack.

``You know I don't think we need Osama bin Laden to start telling us how to handle our political affairs,'' British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday in New York.