France threatened in alleged Bin Laden tape

By the CNN Wire Staff

October 27, 2010 -- Updated 1508 GMT (2308 HKT)

(CNN) -- A man purporting to be Osama Bin Laden warned France to get its troops out of Afghanistan and not to oppress Muslims at home in a tape broadcast by the Al-Jazeera network Wednesday.

"If you want to oppress us and thought that it was your right to ban the free women to wear the burqa, isn't it our right to expel your occupying forces, your men from our lands?" the speaker demands, in reference to recently passed French legislation barring women from covering their faces in public.

"The only way to safeguard your nation and maintain your security is to withdraw your forces from Bush's despicable war," the speaker says, an apparent reference the Afghanistan.

The tape is audio only. The speaker does not appear. CNN was not immediately able to confirm that it is really Osama Bin Laden, the head of al Qaeda.

"To the French people, I say that the formula is simple and clear: As you kill, you will be killed; as you imprison us, you will be imprisoned; as you threaten our security, we will threaten yours, and the one who started the oppression is the one to be blamed," he says.

France has 3,750 troops in Afghanistan, according to NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

French lawmakers approved a ban on full-face veils in September, citing security concerns and saying they violated women's human rights.

The ban is scheduled to come into effect in the spring.