Cairo: Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a "new Crusade" against Islam and warned in a new audiotape of a "severe" reaction for Europeans publication of cartoons seen by Muslims as insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The message raised concerns al-Qaida as plotting new attacks in Europe some experts, said bin Laden, believed to be in hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border area, may be unable to organizes an attack himself and instead as trunk to fan anger over the cartoons to inspire violence by supporters.

The Vatican spokesman the RV. Federico Lombardi, said bin Laden's accusation that Pope Benedict XVI has played a role in a worldwide campaign against Islam is "baseless". Lombardi said the pope on several occasions has criticized the cartoons, first published in several European papers in 2006 then republished in Danish papers in February.

Benedict raised widespread anger in the Muslim world with a 2006 speech in which he cited a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman" particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith".

The pope later said he was "deeply sorry" about the reactions his remarks sparked and stressed that they did not reflect his own opinions, and since he has led a public campaign for dialogue with Muslims.

Bin Laden's audiotape was posted late yesterday on a militant website that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing Al-Sahab.

Source : PTI