OSAMA bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, last night threatened European Union member states with "grave punishment" over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
In an audio message posted on the internet, bin Laden said the cartoons were part of a "crusade" in which he claimed the Pope was involved.
The message, which appeared on a militant website that has carried al-Qaeda statements in the past and bore
the logo of the extremist group's media wing, al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin Laden aiming a rifle.
The message was timed for release on the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.
The cartoons were first published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 but a furore erupted only after other papers reprinted them in 2006. At least 50 people were killed in protests.
A number of Danish newspapers reprinted the cartoon showing Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban last month in a gesture of solidarity after police in the Scandinavian country said they had uncovered a plot to kill the cartoon's artist.
A voice purporting to be bin Laden condemned Europeans' involvement in what it said were attacks on women and children – meaning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – but said these "paled (in comparison] when you went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings".
He added: " This is the greatest misfortune and the most dangerous."
The full article contains 258 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
