'Bin Laden' Urges Afghan Pull-Out

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has purportedly urged European nations to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, in a new tape posted on the internet. He said that "an intelligent man does not waste his money and sons for a gang of criminals in Washington". The audio message, the authenticity of which cannot be verified, was contained in a video posted on Friday. It had German and English subtitles. Germans go to the polls in federal elections on Sunday. "It is shameful to be part of an alliance whose leader does not care about spilling the blood of human beings by bombing villages intentionally," he said, referring to civilian deaths in missile attacks against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "If you had seen [the mass killings] of your American allies and their helpers in northern Afghanistan ... then you would understand the bloody events in Madrid and London," Bin Laden said, referring to attacks in the two cities in 2004 and 2005 respectively.