OBL: Revenge for Republishing Offensive Cartoons Will Be Severe

March 19, 2008— -- A jihadist Web site Wednesday posted a message from Osama bin Laden chiding the European Union for allowing newspapers to republish cartoons insulting the prophet Muhammad.

In his five-minute audio message entitled, "The Response Is What You See, Not What You Hear," bin Laden accuses Europeans of abandoning the "etiquettes of disputes and morals of fighting."

Bin Laden says he considers the reprinting of the cartoons a more serious offense than the killing of women and children. He also adds the revenge for republishing the cartoons "will be more severe."

Bin Laden concludes his message by saying if there are no checks on the Europeans' freedom to speak, then there will be no checks on his freedom to act.

This is bin Laden's first message of 2008. We last heard from bin Laden in December 2007 when he warned Sunnis in Iraq against fighting al Qaeda.

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