Embassy bomber: Attacks loom over cartoons

updated 3:16 a.m. ET Sept. 6, 2008

CAIRO, Egypt - A new al-Qaida video identifies the Saudi purportedly behind a suicide bombing at the Danish Embassy in Pakistan, and he is shown warning in a taped last testament that more attacks will punish Denmark over newspaper caricatures of Islam's founder.

In the 55-minute video posted on the Internet late Thursday, the alleged bomber is referred to both by a nom de guerre, Abu Ghareeb al-Makki, and by his real name, Kamal Saleem Atiyyah al-Fudli al-Hathli. He appears in an explosives vest as he recounts his plan for the attack.

"As for my final message to the worshippers of the cross in Denmark, I tell them, Allah permitting, this isn't the first nor the last retaliation," al-Makki said. "We will wipe you from the face of the Earth."

The June 2 blast killed six people, including a Danish citizen. Al-Qaida claimed responsibility, saying it was carrying out Osama bin Laden's promise to exact revenge for the 2006 publication by Danish newspapers of a dozen cartoons showing the Prophet Muhammad.

Islam forbids any depiction of Muhammad, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry, and the cartoons sparked riots across the Muslim world. Denmark's PET intelligence service warned last month that the country faced its worst terror threat in many years.

The video also shows al-Qaida's top commander in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed, praising al-Makki bomber and warning of more attacks.

In August, Pakistani officials said they were trying to confirm whether a suspected militant killed in fighting in the tribal Bajur area was Abu al-Yazeed, but there has been no comment since. Thursday's video did not indicate when the footage of Abu al-Yazeed was taped.

The video's authenticity could not be independently verified. It was posted on an Islamic militant Web forum commonly used by al-Qaida to issue videos.

Jakob Scharf, chief of the PET intelligence service, said the agency believes the bomber featured in Thursday's video "very likely" executed the attack in Pakistan.

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