Al Qaeda Truce With Europe About To Expire

Muslim militants claiming links to al Qaeda vowed new attacks on Europe once a "truce" offered by Osama bin Laden expires in two weeks, newspapers said on Friday.

"We can't confirm that the Abu Hafs Brigade speaks authoritatively for al Qaeda, but absent that, it is fair to say that there would be some concern about the expiration of this deadline which could potentially presage other attacks," an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Al Qaeda leader bin Laden, in an unconfirmed audiotape on April 15, gave European states three months to pull troops out of Afghanistan, Iraq and other Muslim countries or face new attacks like the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people on March 11.

In response to this veiled threat, France increased its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide".


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