A message attributed to a spokesman for Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network was aired on Al-Arabiya television Sunday.
It denied all links to the massive bomb blast in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf last month.
In the taped message, a man claiming to be a member of Al Qaeda, who identified himself as Abu Abdul Rahman Al-Najdi, said al-Qaeda affirmed it had nothing to do with the attack.
"We have nothing to do with it (Najaf attack) because our objective is to kill Americans," said the taped voice, who also called himself al-Qaeda's spokesman in Afghanistan.
"It's the Americans and the Jews who committed the attack to get rid of Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer Hakim because they knew he was faithful to Iran," he said in the message dated September 3.
According to the message, the goal of the perpetrators of the attack is to "sow discord between Sunnis and Shiites and ... put Shiites against al-Qaeda." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
