Commander Promises Bush 'bin Ladens'

With the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, one of the most wanted men in Afghanistan, renegade commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, promised President Bush “thousands of Osama bin Ladens.” “After the collapse of Baghdad, people think that the war in Iraq has come to an end, but another, guerrilla war, shall begin from this moment on,” he warned in five-page Pashtu-language message acquired Thursday by The Associated Press. The message, delivered in the Pakistani frontier town of Peshawar by a member of Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami party, warned of fresh suicide attacks and called the U.S.-led victory over Saddam a sorry day for Muslims worldwide. “Now every Arab is an Osama bin Laden and he has found a place of jihad (holy war) in your own neighborhood,” Hekmatyar said. “Oh proud Bush, wait for thousands of Osama bin Ladens. You will see the wrath of the Muslim youths in the shape of suicide attacks.” The letter was signed by Hekmatyar in his familiar signature and contained language that was typical of the former Afghan commander, but it was impossible to independently verify that he wrote it. The reference to Saddam’s defeat indicated it was written recently. Full Story