With friends like Osama

Darfur, Sudan

Sudanese authorities scrambled this week to reject the dubious honor of Osama bin Laden’s support. Bin Laden, in his latest audiotape release, called for jihad against the “crusader plunderers”—the U.N. troops scheduled to take over peacekeeping duties in Sudan from the African Union next year. The U.N. force is intended to protect tens of thousands of black Muslim villagers who have been driven from their homes by ethnic Arab militias. Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said the country does not want “foreign interference” of any kind, whether from jihadists or U.N. troops. U.N. envoy Jan Pronk said al Qaida operatives have become increasingly visible in the Sudanese capital in recent weeks. Bin Laden was once based in Sudan; he is now believed to be hiding somewhere in the mountains of Pakistan, near the Afghan border.

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