The videotape footage was originally broadcast on alJazeera The best prospect, held out by Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, is "some convergence" in Geneva that would at least prevent a repeat of the pre-war d?cle on the Security Council.. And given the risks in Iraq, few other governments may be willing to send troops.Spelling out France's stance in an article in Le Monde, the foreign minister Dominique de Villepin said that a provisional Iraqi government should be in place within a month, followed by a draft constitution by the end of the year and elections next spring.But General Powell said in interviews this week that while the US wants to restore Iraqi sovereignty "as fast as we can," the United Nations "isn't ready to handle" assuming all authority. The real question is whether even a new UN resolution would persuade other reluctant countries to contribute troops to supplement the 180,000-strong, overwhelmingly American, force already there.India, one of the countries Washington had been hoping to win over, made clear that it would not send troops, even if a new resolution goes through. This would imply a curtailment of the powers of Paul Bremer, the head of the occupying coalition authority.By contrast, there is no argument that the US should retain de facto control of military operations, even if the American commander is obliged to report back periodically to the Security Council. The defeat of the terrorists in Iraq "must be the cause of the civilised world". The sticking point in Geneva is likely to be the demand of France and Germany, a non-permanent member of the 15-nation council, for a fast and specific timetable for the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty, and a central role for the United Nations in the civilian administration of the country. "It's time for others to join us," he told soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division at their base in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Washington's fervent hope is that it will produce enough agreement to permit passage of a new text, ideally before Mr Bush addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 23 September.But despite a continuing fall in his approval ratings (down to 52 per cent according to a new CNN poll released yesterday) and mounting criticism of his handling of the Iraq crisis, Mr Bush sounded in no mood for concessions. On the eve of a crucial meeting between the US and its key United Nations partners, President Bush yesterday issued an uncompromising demand for international support for Washington's faltering attempt to restore stability to Iraq. He said: "We salute the brothers in Iraq and press on their hands and ask Allah to bless their sacrifices and valour in fighting the crusaders."The voice purported to be Bin Laden speaks of some of the 11 September hijackers and praises them for making "great damages to the enemy", but makes no reference to more recent events.. We are at war because of what he and his fellow killers decided to do two years ago today."We will stay the course until we have achieved our objective and dismantled the terrorist organisations."The videotape footage was originally broadcast on al-Jazeera.
An audio tape featured two voices, one purportedly belonging to Bin Laden and the other to Zawahri, an official said.Initially, the technical analysis of the section with Bin Laden's voice was inconclusive, the official said.In the recording, Zawahri mentioned the war in Iraq, which suggested that the tape might have been recorded sometime since the fighting started in March. He added: "His rhetoric is trying to intimidate and create fear He's not going to intimidate America. The official said that the experts weren't completely certain. The CIA official added that there were no references in the recording that would indicate when it was made.The intelligence agency also confirmed yesterday that the second voice on the recording was that of Ayman al-Zawahri, Bin Laden's second-in-command.President George Bush said on Thursday that the tape "reminds us that the war on terror goes on". The voice featured on a tape accompanying video footage of Osama bin Laden was probably that of the al-Qa'ida leader, a CIA official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that experts made their decision after an extensive technical analysis of the audio tape, aired on an Arab satellite channel on Wednesday. |
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