Fugitive Taliban leader mullah Mohammad Omar has condemned a "crusade" launched by the United States in Afghanistan and continued in the Palestinian territories, according to a Monday report in a London-based daily.
"The massacres of Palestinians by the Israeli army is proof that the war against Islam and Muslims is an open crusade," the Arabic daily Al-Hayat quoted Omar as saying in a statement.
"After America launched its war against Islam in Afghanistan ... the Jews are doing the same today against Muslim people in Palestine," he said.
"All of it is carried out with American weapons, American money and backed by American decisions," added the statement to Al-Hayat.
"Who can believe that America wants to fight the terrorism she herself practices in such a shameful way?" Omar asked, vowing to pursue his struggle against the United States.
"Do the Americans want us to see the colonizers live in security ... without us fighting those who have taken away our rights?"
Omar fled from Kandahar when his stronghold in the southern part of Afghanistan fell last December.
He was reported to have gone into hiding with tribesmen in Helmand province, but then to have moved on. (Albawaba.com)
