'London bombings' terror group issues new threat
An al-Qaida-linked group that claimed responsibility for the London bombings threatened today to launch “a bloody war” on the capitals of European countries that do not remove their troops from Iraq within a month.
“This is the last message we send to the European countries. We are giving you one month for your soldiers to leave the Land Of The Two Rivers. Then there will be no other messages, but actions, and the words will be engraved in the heart of Europe,” the group called Abu Hafs al Masri Brigades said in a statement.
The “two rivers” in the statement refer to Iraq’s Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
The authenticity of the statement – which surfaced on an Islamic web site, known as a clearing house for extremist groups’ material – could not be verified.
The group has no proven track record of attacks, and experts view its claims of responsibility with doubt, since it has said it was responsible for events in which it was unlikely to have played any role, such as the 2003 blackouts in the US and London that resulted from technical problems.
It is not the first time this group has threatened European nations – in recent months it said its operatives would strike in Europe if European nations did not withdraw their troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
“It is time for you to understand that the Mujahedeen (holy warriors) will not leave their nation suffering under the stigma of humiliation and the killings by American fire which you allied with,” the statement said.
It vowed to launch “a bloody war, God willing,” against Denmark, Holland, Britain, Italy and other countries ”whose soldiers are roving and having fun in Iraq.”
The Abu Hafs al-Masri group is one of at least two groups to have claimed responsibility for the July 7 bombings on London’s Underground and a bus that killed at least 56 people and injured 700.
