Osama bin Laden threatened al Qaeda would kill any Americans it takes prisoner if accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is put to death, according to an audiotape aired on al Jazeera on Thursday. Senior US officials may recommend that Mohammed, who was being held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be prosecuted in a military trial, officials said in March.
Such a decision, after intense political pressure, would reverse plans to hold criminal trials for Mohammed and four accused co-conspirators in a lower Manhattan court. "This message is about our prisoners who you are holding," bin Laden said in the tape, complaining that US President Barack Obama was still following "his predecessor's steps" on many issues including on al Qaeda detainees such as Mohammed.
"The White House has expressed its desire to execute him. When America makes this decision, it will have made a decision to execute whoever of you is held prisoner by us," bin Laden said in the tape recording, whose authenticity could not be immediately confirmed.
The White House had no immediate comment. A US counter terrorism official dismissed as absurd al Qaeda leader bin Laden's threat to execute any Americans in captivity. "It's the height of absurdity for anyone associated with al Qaeda to even suggest that now, at long last, they're going to start treating captives badly," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.