WERDER, Germany - Western interior ministers played down Saturday the latest statement attributed to Osama bin Laden, even though their countries were clearly targeted.
The statement aired Thursday by Al-Jazeera television urged Europeans to break ranks with the United States and quit Afghanistan.
By following in US footsteps in entering Afghanistan, Europe could only be a "subordinate" to Washington, as attested to by the fact that "you entered this war and US soldiers were exempted from accountability in European courts," it said.
The speaker accused countries which took part in the Afghan war of flouting war ethics, including targeting women and children in their air strikes and other attacks.
Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with his counterparts from Britain, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United States, Germany's Wolfgang Schauble said, "We must take it seriously, but we must not react too nervously."
He referred to the calmness of Britons who refused to change their way of life after the London bombings of July 2005.
France's Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Western countries were "declared targets" of groups linked to Al-Qaeda in North Africa, adding that the threat was "not new" but "real and constant."
Italy's Giuliano Amato underlined the importance of transatlantic cooperation, adding that the "terrorist network" must be countered with another network "based on respect for the law."
All participants, including US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, stressed that they wanted to act in line with their own laws and international agreements, including the right of citizens to be protected from attacks.
The possibility of introducing new legislation against terrorism suspects was the main theme of the two-day talks at Werder, near Potsdam in eastern Germany.
jlv/mb/mjs
12/01/2007 16:27 GMT