European states reject Bin Laden's call for truce

Several European sides spoke about the idea of truce or reconciliation which was declared by the leader of al-Qaida organization Osama Bin Laden to the countries of the continent.

Britain described the idea of negotiation with Bin Laden and the reconciliation offer which he had proposed as silly.

The Italian foreign minister Franco Frateini said that dealing with Bin Laden will never happen, while the next Spanish Foreign minister Miguel Angle Moratinos called for ignoring this offer.

The chairman of the European Commission Romano Prod stressed his rejection to Bin Laden's proposal. He said that Europe will not negotiate under the threats of terrorism.

Bin Laden had called on the European states to abide by not attacking Muslims and for reconciling with them. In a new tape recording broadcast by the Qatari al-Jazeera TV, he said that the enforcement of his initiative starts with the departure of the last soldier from this state or that, from the countries of Muslims, stressing that the door for reconciliation will continue to be valid for three months as from the date of his statement.

He stressed that his initiative is a response to the positive interaction with the European states which desire to reconciliation. He called for the formation of a permanent committee to spread awareness among those peoples and explain the just causes of Arabs and Muslims, especially the cause of Palestine and the catastrophes inflected on the world as a result of the American intervention in the affairs of others.

Bin Laden said that describing Muslims of terrorism is the very description of those who advocate this accusation because the actions made by Muslims are the reactions to the ones by those, and what had happened on September 11, 2001 in the US and March 11 in Madrid is their commodity and were sent back to them, noting the acts of killing and destruction taking place in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.

To this effect, the Egyptian expert in Islamic groups issues Muntasir al-Zayyat said that that Bin Laden's initiative will not receive an immediate response from the governments of the European states because he is a terrorist, from their own view point.

In a statement to al-Jazeera TV, he noted that Bin Laden's offer came in this context in an attempt to contain the negative consequences of Madrid explosions at peoples supporting the Palestinian cause and against the war in Iraq. He also stressed that Bin Laden seeks to place the ball in the American court because his main battle is against the American administration and not against Europe.