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Is Bin Laden tape real?: A tape of a man claiming to be Osama bin Laden threatening France appears to be authentic, the French Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Bin Laden warned France to get its troops from Afghanistan and not to oppress the Muslims at home in a tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera on Wednesday.
"If you want to bully and thinks that it is your right to ban free women to wear the burqa, is it not our right to expel the occupying forces you, your men of our land beating them by the neck? " requirements loudspeaker, referring to French legislation recently passed prohibiting women from covering their faces in public.
"This message merely confirms the reality of the terrorist threat against which the French authorities have taken and continue to take appropriate action," the ministry said in a statement Thursday.
"The French authorities are fully mobilized to secure the release of seven hostages kidnapped in Niger on Sept. 16. These statements by bin Laden will not affect our assessment of the situation of our hostages and, of course, will therefore not not deteriorate our efforts to secure their release. France will continue to fight against terrorism alongside its partners, "the ministry said.
Five French nationals were kidnapped last month with a person that Togo and Madagascar. A photograph of them was sent on September 30 on a website linked to Al Qaeda.
French authorities treat bin Laden's message "very, very seriously," CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said.
A member of the opposition on Wednesday called "contempt for these terrorists.
"This is ridiculous, despicable. We must take this message for what it is, but we must stand together in France, all French, whatever the circumstances and whatever our differences," said Francois Loncle, Socialist Party member of the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly said on RTL radio.
The requirements of the speaker on the tape are clear.
"The only way to protect your nation and to maintain your safety is to remove all your injustice and its extensions outside of our people and especially to withdraw your forces from the despicable Bush war in Afghanistan," he said.
The tape is audio only. He does not appear. CNN has been unable to confirm that he is really Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda.
But bin Laden false records were never released, U.S. intelligence experts say.
"As you kill us, you will be killed. As you imprison us, you're trapped, and as you threaten our security, we threaten your safety and the initiator of injustice is the real aggressor, "he said.
The terror alert level in France is red, the second highest, authorities say. It did not change immediately in response to the new band.
Paris has been on edge lately, with the Eiffel Tower was evacuated twice.
Al-Qaeda has released a series of threats against France in the past, and French citizens were killed by groups claiming affiliation with the African group of bin Laden.
Bin Laden is still providing strategic direction to Al-Qaeda from a base somewhere in Pakistan, Ms. Cruickshank.
"He is still involved in signing the actual plot ... (s) operation, the Western intelligence agencies believe that," he said.
But there were only two successful attacks on the West since September 11, 2001, "he said.
Commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, were bombed in March, 2004, killing 191 people. Public transport in London, England, was bombed in July 2005, killing 52, plus four suicide bombers.
France has 3,750 soldiers in Afghanistan, according to the NATO International Security Assistance Force.
French lawmakers approved a ban on veils in September, citing safety concerns and say they have violated the human rights of women. The ban should take effect in spring.