Osama Bin Laden 'alive and recruiting', claims terror expert

New Delhi: If claims by an al-Qaeda expert are to be believed, world's most wanted man Osama Bin Laden is still alive and recruiting fresh support in Britain and Europe. Dr Rohan Gunaratna, a world authority on Islamic terrorism, said that the Saudi-born militant was the author of a defiant message posted last week on an al Qaida website, reports The Daily Mail. The statement in Arabic was posted last Friday on Arabic website alneda.com in response to criticism levelled at al Qaida for its role in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Dr Gunaratna said.It stated: 'We don't care about Western public opinion because it is for the Western people and in any case backs Western governments.'Therefore it should not be a matter of concern for us whether western public opinion turns against us or not. We did this operation not for human kind but for Allah.'Dr Gunaratna, who is based at St Andrews University, Fife, said: 'From the style of that message and the way in which it's been issued it's very clear that this is from Osama bin Laden himself.Dr Gunaratna said that the message, which featured prominently on the website, had bin Laden's 'signature all over it' but did not state that he was its author because 'it is important for al Qaeda to maintain ambiguity about whether he is alive or dead'.He went on: 'It's in the interests of the Jihad campaign to keep people guessing about whether Osama bin Laden is still living.'If they admit he's alive then the threat to the command structure of the organisation will increase and the coalition will intensify their efforts to find him.' He said the statement was a response to a wave of criticism from Muslims all over the world after the broadcast of a video last month by a Gulf TV station showing bin Laden, his deputy and a man identified as one of the 11 September hijackers.In one excerpt of the video - broadcast by Al Jazeera on April 15 - a man identified as Ahmed Ibrahim Al Haznawi speaks to the camera.Al Jazeera said the recording was made months before the attack. US officials have identified Al Haznawi as one of four attackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.Dr Gunaratna said that prior to the release of the video there was still some doubt in the minds of Muslims about whether al-Qaeda were definitely responsible for the US attacks.But the broadcast finally erased that doubt provoking criticism from Muslims everywhere concerned that the extremist group was giving Islam a bad name, said Dr Gunaratna.He said he believed that Western military leaders have privately accepted that the war in Afghanistan, where the Royal Marines are busy combing mountain lairs used by al-Qaeda fighters, was 'far from over'.