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Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged European countries to end their military cooperation with US forces in Afghanistan, in an audio tape aired by Al Jazeera television on Thursday.
He said American power was waning and it would be wise for the Europeans to quickly end their role in Afghanistan, where many European countries contribute to the 50,000-strong NATO and US-led coalition forces.
"With the grace of God ... the American tide is receding and they would eventually return to their home across the Atlantic ... It is in your interest to force the hand of your politicians (away from) the White House," said bin Laden.
In Washington, a US counterterrorism official said the voice on the audio tape appeared to be bin Laden's. It was not immediately clear when the new message was recorded.
The United States led the invasion of Afghanistan to depose its Taliban rulers in late 2001, after they refused to hand over bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Bin Laden did not make any threat in the portions of the recording aired by Jazeera. The full tape is yet to be released by an Islamist Web site.
In the portions aired by Jazeera, bin Laden said the Taliban had no knowledge of plans for the 2001 attacks.
"I am the one responsible... The Afghan people and government knew nothing whatsoever about these events," he said, adding that the United States had not provided any evidence of Taliban involvement to justify its invasion.
"Europe marched behind it with no choice but to be a lackey," bin Laden said.
"I'm addressing you (Europeans) and not your politicians ... (who) like to be in the shadow of the White House as many world leaders," he said, naming current and former leaders of Britain, France, Spain and Italy, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The United States has been urging its NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, but European nations remain reluctant to commit further reinforcements.
卡塔尔半岛电视台于本周四公布了基地组织头目奥萨马•本•拉登的一盘最新录音带，本•拉登在其中敦促欧洲国家停止与美国在阿富汗的军事“合作”。
本•拉登说，美国在阿富汗的影响力正逐渐减弱，欧洲国家应认清现实，尽快从阿富汗撤军。目前，由北约及美国领导的驻阿富汗“国际安全援助部队”已达到5万人，很多欧洲国家向该地区投入了兵力。
本•拉登说：“感谢上帝……美国的影响力已在逐渐减弱，他们最终会撤回大西洋彼岸的老家去……你们最好劝你们的领导人别再当美国的‘跟班’了。”
白宫的一位“反恐”官员称，录音带中的声音酷似本•拉登，但目前还不清楚这盘录音带是何时录制的。
“9•11”恐怖袭击后，由于阿富汗“塔利班”拒绝向美国交出本•拉登及其他基地组织领导人，2001年底，美国发动阿富汗战争，推翻了塔利班政权。
本•拉登在整盘录音中没有发表任何威胁性言论。录音带将会在一个穆斯林网站上公布。
本•拉登称，塔利班对2001年的恐怖袭击计划毫不知情。
他说：“一切都是我策划的……与阿富汗政府和人民无关。”本•拉登还说美国至今没能提供任何证据证明塔利班参与“9•11”事件，为其入侵阿富汗提出正当理由。
本·拉登嘲讽说：“欧洲跟在美国后面，乖乖地做了个‘跟班’。”
“我说这些是给你们（欧洲人民）听的，而不是你们的领导人，他们与很多领导人一样，甘受美国摆布。”本·拉登在录音中提到了英国前任首相（布莱尔）和现任首相戈登•布朗、法国总统萨科奇、以及西班牙和意大利总理。
美国一直要求北约向阿富汗增派部队，但欧洲一些国家一直按兵不动。
Vocabulary:
wane:gradually lose power or importance（逐渐减退）
in the shadow of:与……形影不离
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