Letter from Osama bin Laden to the Afghan people:

PRAISE be to God, the Master of His dominion, Omnipotent ruler of the heavens and the earth, the Great and Powerful, and may peace and blessings be upon the leader of the strugglers ("mujahideen") and sharply unique leader, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions all, and upon those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgement.

This is a letter I send to you, I, your brother in religion and belief, Usamah bin Muhammad bin Awad Bin Ladin.

Peace be upon you and the mercy of God and his blessings!

This is a letter I direct to the noble, steadfast, struggling people who have carried a sword in one hand and the Noble Qur'an in the other hand.

Know, people of the heartland of the shari'ah (Islamic law), guardians of religion, that God, the Great and Sublime has said in His book (the Qur'an), "God has promised those among you who believe and do good that he will make them successors in the land as he made others successors in the past. [Qur'an, 24:55].

Oh Afghan people, there is no fear for you as to the place of jihad in religion.

It is the pinnacle of Islam and with it greatness and high standing are attained in this world and in the hereafter.

By means of it homelands are preserved, sacred places are defended, justice is spread, security prevails, well-being becomes general, and fear is sown in the souls of the misled.

Kingdoms are built by it (jihad), and the banner of Truth rises above all other banners.

Oh Afghan people, I say these words to you being convinced that you understand this type of speech more than others do, because Afghanistan is a country on whose land, for ages, the feet of invaders have never been able to settle, for its people are distinguished by their severity, firmness, pride, and perseverance in fighting.

Their home has never been opened except to Islam, and that is because the Muslims did not come to Afghanistan as colonists, nor to fulfill earthly ambitions.

They came bearing good tidings, calling to God, the Great and Exalted.

Oh Afghan people, God has blessed us with you as you have struggled in the path of God and given all that is near and dear so that His great word, that is "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God," would exist in your land.

World disbelief has not accepted what you have striven for.

You have seen Britain, and then Russia, followed by America rush into its battlefields and challenge the zeal of the Muslim in the east of the land and the west.

I declare from this place of mine that the great haloes that are drawn around these superpowers do not equal a mosquito wing; they do not equal anything before the power of the Omnipotent King and His support for the sincere Believing mujahideen (holy strugglers).

Whoever doubts this matter, let him learn from the Russians who came before how the blessed jihad destroyed their legend.

Before them, neither the Tatars, nor the English were able to establish themselves, for the mountain peaks of this blessed land reject every obdurate atheist.

We will soon see, by the grace of God the Exalted, glory be to Him, the fall of the unbelieving states,

in the first place of America the tyrannical, which has trampled all human values and violated all limits, and knows nothing except the logic of force and jihad.

Glory to Islam and victory to the Muslims!

Abi Abdallah