Osama bin Laden, the accused mastermind of the World Trade Center attacks, took center stage in a trans-Atlantic war of words Wednesday that pitted the United States against powerful allies in Europe. The State Department, eager to boost support for a possible war against Iraq, insisted a purported bin Laden audiotape exhorting Muslims to fight the “allies of the devil” was proof Iraq and bin Laden’s al Qaeda network were in cahoots. The United States blames the elusive bin Laden for the suicide attacks that killed 3,000 people on September 11, 2001. The United States has said one of the main reasons for disarming Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, even by force if necessary, was the possibility that Baghdad would provide terror groups with biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. Full Story