Bin Laden warns Iraq's Sunnis against joining anti-Qaida tribal councils
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against joining tribal councils fighting al-Qaida or participating in any unity government in a new audiotape posted on the Web on Saturday.
"The most evil of the traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life," bin Laden said in the tape.
He denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, a tribal force fighting al-Qaida in western Iraq, who was killed in a bombing in September.
Bin Laden said US and Iraqi officials are seeking to set up a "national unity government" joining the country's Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds.