本•拉登再現音 威脅讓美國血債血還

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden threatened in a new audio recording released Thursday to kill any captured Americans if the US executes the self-professed mastermind of the Sept.11 attacks or any other al-Qaida suspects.

The US is still considering whether to put Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four of his fellow plotters on military tribunal for their role in the Sept. 11 attacks. The Obama administration is also looking into recommendations for civilian trials, and is expected to announce a decision soon.

In a brief 74-second audio tape aired on Al-Jazeera television, bin Laden said if the US decides to execute any al-Qaida suspects in its custody - and explicitly mentioned Mohammed - his terror network would kill American captives.

The terror leader said such a decision "would mean the US has issued a death sentence against whoever of you becomes a prisoner in our hands."

It was not immediately clear whether al-Qaida is currently has any US captives, but the Haqqani group - the Pakistan-based Taliban faction closest to al-Qaida - is holding an American soldier it captured in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. It released a video of him in December.

Bin Laden said US President Barack Obama is following in the footsteps of his predecessor George W. Bush by escalating the war in Afghanistan, being "unjust" to al-Qaida prisoners and supporting Israel in its occupation of Palestinian land.

In a veiled threat, bin Laden said Americans had previously thought their homeland was beyond the reach of his group until the 9/11 attack.

Mohammed, who was captured in Pakistan in 2003, is the most senior al-Qaida operative in US custody, and is currently in detention at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In 2008, the US charged him with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Pentagon officials have said they'll seek the death penalty.

基地組織頭目奧薩馬•本•拉登在本週四公佈的一段錄音中威脅稱，如果美國處死其所認定的9•11恐怖襲擊幕後主謀或涉嫌製造該事件的基地組織其他成員，他就將處決所有被囚禁的美國人。

目前美國仍在考慮是否將其認定的主謀哈立德•謝克•默罕默德和他的四名同夥送上軍事法庭。奧巴馬政府也在考慮採取民事審判的建議，並且將很快做出決定。

在半島電視臺播出的這段僅有74秒的錄音中，本•拉登表示，如果美國決定處死在押的任何基地組織成員，他的恐怖組織網絡就將處死他們所關押的美國俘虜，其中明確提到默罕默德。

這名恐怖組織頭目稱，只要美國做出這個決定，就相當於“決定處死我們關押的美國囚犯”。

目前還不清楚基地組織現在是否關押有美國俘虜，但總部位於巴基斯坦的塔利班分支機構、與基地組織關係最密切的哈卡尼組織現在正關押2009年6月在阿富汗東部逮捕的一名美國士兵。該組織於去年12月公佈了他的一段視頻錄像。

本•拉登稱，美國總統貝拉克•奧巴馬正走其前任小布什的老路。他不僅增兵阿富汗，“不公正地”對待基地組織囚犯，還支持以色列佔領巴勒斯坦領土。

本·拉登還隱晦威脅稱，直到9•11事件的發生，美國人才意識到他們的國土並非遠離基地組織的手掌。

默罕默德於2003年在巴基斯坦被捕，是美國關押的級別最高的基地組織成員，目前他被關押在古巴關塔那摩灣的美國海軍基地。2008年，美國指控其與9•11恐怖襲擊事件有關聯，犯有謀殺罪和戰爭罪。美國國防部官員已表示，他們將尋求判處其死刑。

Vocabulary:

military tribunal：軍事法庭

veiled：not openly or directly expressed; masked; disguised; hidden; obscure（含蓄的，掩飾的）