London - Letters allegedly written by Osama bin Laden to his supporters in London called on members of his al-Qaeda network to acquire weapons of mass destruction and urged them to "kill, fight, create traps and destroy" Americans.
In the correspondence, bin Laden refers to the US sanctions on Iraq as the "worst international terrorism" and said it was the "sacred duty of Muslims" to drive out American forces from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
If the letters, published yesterday by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, are genuine, they give an insight into the way bin Laden guides and incites his followers, and underline that his fundamental objective is to purge western powers from the oil rich resources of his Saudi homeland.
The letters were supposedly seized by the UK's Scotland Yard during an investigation to find bin Laden followers in Britain who may have had knowledge of, or involvement in, the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.