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HOW, WHY AND WHEN TO DESTROY THE UNITED STATES

A hoax. The faux interview draws heavily from themes found in Tom Clancy books, such as "The Sum of all Fears" and "The Peacemaker". The writing style and questions posed are nowhere near the quality and integrity of journalism found with true Al-Jazeera reporters. This assumption was verified by Omar Bec, head of Newsgathering & Operations for Al-Jazeera, who dismissed the email as being "totally bogus". He also noted that "had the (interview) taken place, jazeera would not hesitate to air it at all" for the sake of journalistic integrity. It also appears that even the name "Mohammed Al-Asuquf" is a fake, as there is no known person by that name affiliated with Al-Queda.

The following is full text of one such email:

HOW, WHY AND WHEN TO DESTROY THE UNITED STATES

The following interview was conducted by a reporter for the Al-Jazeera network with the third-in-command of the Al Queda organization, Mr. Mohammed Al-Asuquf. Al-Asuquf's background is impressive; a doctorate in physics and masters in international economics. In the interview, he talks of Al Queda's plans with total detachment, with deep knowledge and an unshakeable commitment to his cause. This interview was sent to Abel-Bari Atwan, chief editor of Al Quds, an Arabic-language newspaper published in London, but was never printed, due to its highly revealing [inflammatory?] contents. A copy of the interview came to Foz-do-Iguaçu, and was translated into Portuguese by a university professor in the city's Arab community. This is probably the only existing version of this interview not in Arabic.

Al-Jazeera: What is the objective of the Al Queda network?

Al-Asuquf: To destroy the Great Satan, that is, the United States and Israel.

Al-Jazeera: Why?

Al-Asuquf: The USA over the past 60 years has been impregnating [infecting] the world with its arrogance, greed and malfeasance. It is the incarnation of all that is evil. The people of this planet don't deserve this torture.

Al-Jazeera: Isn't this view somewhat one-sided?

Al-Asuquf: No; one only has to observe recent events. The disrespect of the Kyoto treaty; the case of the Permanent Court of International Justice, their inaction with regards to our Palestinian brothers; the financial greed and absurd speculations in Third World countries; the complete indifference to other oppressed people and countless other situations which all of the world's leaders well know. And on top of all that, the Bush doctrine of "shoot first and ask questions later." This is an unacceptable abuse and will therefore have very grave consequences.