Bin Laden tape: ‘Beware of division’

BAGHDAD (AP) — Osama bin Laden scolded his al-Qaida followers in Iraq and other insurgents Monday, saying they have “been lax” for failing to overcome fanatical tribal loyalties and unite in the fight against U.S. troops.

The message of his new audiotape reflected the growing disarray among Iraq’s Sunni Arab insurgents and bin Laden’s client group in the country, both of which are facing heavy U.S. military pressure and an uprising among Sunni tribesmen.

In the brief tape played on Al-Jazeera television, the terrorist leader urged militants to “beware of division. ... The Muslim world is waiting for you to gather under one banner.”

He used the word “ta’assub” — “fanaticism” — to chastise insurgents for putting their allegiance to tribe or radical organization above the larger fight to overcome American forces.

Though the authenticity of the tape could not be verified immediately, the voice resembled that of bin Laden in previous messages. U.S. officials in Washington said analysts were still studying the tape. Al-Jazeera did not say how it got the tape, which was bin Laden’s third this year.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, kept up pressure on Shiite Muslim militants.

Baghdad police said American helicopters strafed a building in the capital’s Sadr City district, wounding a woman and her daughter, the second claim in two days of civilian casualties from U.S. attacks in the Shiite enclave.

Iraqi officials disputed an American military claim that 49 militants were killed Sunday in a ground and air assault that targeted an Iranian-linked militia chief, insisting the number of casualties was 15 — all civilians.