/ 30 September 2001

LITTLE KNOWN GROUP PROMISES ‘FIERCE AND RELENTLESS WAR’

A PREVIOUSLY unknown Islamic militant group is threatening the United States and its allies with a ”fierce and relentless war,” according to a statement on Wednesday. The statement, sent by the London-based Muslim human rights group, the Islamic Observation Center, was identified as coming from the Islamic Army for the Liberation of Islamic Holy Sites – Yemen.” ”We tell America, and all those who stand by its side to help it strike Islam and Muslims in general and our Afghan brothers in particular, that the Islamic army will stand up to them,” the statement said. ”America and its allies must know that they will face a fierce and relentless war on many fronts and axes, and in several regions,” the organisation said. It was not possible to establish a link between this group and Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born Islamic militant whom Washington suspects of being behind the September 11 suicide airborne attacks in the United States. – Sapa-AFP