Bin Laden Issues Call For Muslim Youth To Fight The US

ISLAMABAD (AP)--Circulating in Pakistan's deeply conservative Northwest Frontier Province is a call to Muslim youth from suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden to wage war against the U.S.

On posters addressing the "dear youths of the Muslim world," bin Laden condemns the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia and calls for a jihad, or holy war, against the U.S. until they are withdrawn.

"The youth should contact us as soon as possible. Territorial boundaries have no importance in our eyes," said the message from bin Laden, who is in hiding in neighboring Afghanistan. "All the land belongs to God."

The glossy posters, stuck to vehicles and buildings in the northwestern city of Peshawar, depict burning American, Indian and Israeli flags, as well as a cocked Kalashnikov rifle.

"Our jihad will continue until America is expelled from Saudi Arabia and other countries of the world," bin Laden's message read. "It is our responsibility to free the world from (U.S.) control. The non-Muslim world should know it well that a Muslim is always ready to die in the name of God."

Bin Laden also vowed to continue his battle against the U.S., which accuses him of masterminding the 1998 twin attacks on its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

"I am not afraid of America," the poster read. "I will continue my work. No one can stop me."

Taliban Promises To Never Give Bin Laden To US

In another placard circulating in Pakistan, the supreme leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban army, Mullah Mohammed Omar, promises never to hand over bin Laden to the U.S.

"Even if the whole of Afghanistan is destroyed, we will never deliver Osama," it read. "A Muslim can't deliver a Muslim to a non-Muslim."

The posters first surfaced in Pakistan soon after last month's visit to the region by U.S. President Bill Clinton. During a six-hour visit March 25, Clinton sought the help of Pakistan's army ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf to persuade the Taliban to hand over bin Laden, one of the 10 most wanted men by the U.S.

The U.S. wants bin Laden to stand trial on terrorism charges either in the U.S. or in a third country. The Taliban have flatly refused.

Omar accused the U.S. of planning further action against the Taliban. In 1988, the U.S. fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at eastern Afghanistan, taking aim at alleged training camps operated by bin Laden's Al-Qaida group. Last year, the U.S. barred all investment in and trade with the Taliban.

The United Nations followed in November 1999 with limited sanctions against the Taliban also to press for bin Laden's extradition.

"I am very well aware that America is making some plans against us," wrote Omar, without specifying what U.S. plans he was referring to. "I want to tell America in very clear words that they can do whatever they want, but we will do what we like."