Bush mocks Bin Laden as evil man

12/14/2001

By RON FOURNIER
AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON — President Bush belittled Osama bin Laden on Friday as a man who ``refuses to stand and fight'' while sending suicide bombers to their deaths. ``He may hide for a while, but we'll get him,'' the president said.

As the president spoke, U.S.-backed forces tightened their hold on a cave-filled Afghan region where bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

The president said it is preposterous to doubt the authenticity of a videotape released by the administration Thursday that showed bin Laden gloating about the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

He called the tape a chilling admission of guilt.

``Those who contend it's a farce or a fake are hoping for the best about an evil man. I mean, this is bin Laden unedited,'' the president said during an Oval Office picture-taking session with Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

``It is preposterous for anybody to think that this tape is doctored. That's just a feeble excuse to provide weak support for an incredibly evil man,'' the president said.

Bush said he had mixed emotions about whether to release the tape, which he knew would be a ``vivid reminder'' for the families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

``On the other hand, I knew that the tape would be a devastating declaration of guilt for this evil person,'' he said.

The tape also showed a mystery sheik, who was seen talking with bin Laden. U.S. officials said Friday they believe the man is Sheik Ali bin Said al-Ghandi, a Saudi Arabian Islamic cleric known for anti-Western views.

Al-Ghandi was a professor of Islamic theology who was suspended and arrested by the Saudi government in 1995, just after the release of another radical sheik, Hammud al-Shuaybi, who is mentioned in the tape, the official said.

In the videotape, the man identified as al-Ghandi assures bin Laden that al-Shuaybi has called on Saudis to rise up against Americans.

Bush would not predict how soon bin Laden would be captured, and he said he didn't care how the suspect is taken. ``Dead or alive, either way,'' he said. ``It doesn't matter to me.''

He said U.S. troops and friendly Afghan soldiers had liberated the country of a cruel regime — ``There is no such thing as a Taliban'' — but the search for bin Laden goes on.

``We're achieving a lot of our objectives, but we're chasing a person — obviously, he's willing to send suicide bombers on the one hand, and hide in a cave — somebody who encourages young people to go kill themselves, and he himself refuses to stand and fight,'' Bush said.