In his most recent audio recording, Osama bin Laden warned Europe of a reckoning for publishing controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. In the message, which was addressed to intelligent ones, bin Laden said that the publishing of the insulting drawings was a greater crime than Western forces targeting Muslim villages, and killing women and children. The five-minute audio message titled May Our Mothers Be Bereaved of Us If We Fail to Help Our Prophet was posted to As-Sahab, a media arm of Al Qaeda. The messages coincided with the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war. Bin Laden specifically mentioned Pope Benedict XVI in the message, saying that he played a significant role in the publication of the Muhammad cartoons, which he considered part of a new crusade against Muslims.
