The Vatican on Thursday rejected accusations by fugitive al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden that Pope Benedict XVI was leading a ''new Crusade'' against Islam.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the accusations were ''nothing new and not surprising'' and that allegations that the pope was involved in a campaign against Islam were ''totally baseless''.
In an audio tape released on Wednesday, bin Laden linked the pope's involvement in a campaign against Islam to cartoons making fun of the Prophet Mohammed published in Denmark.
''The Pope and the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue have criticised satirical campaigns against Islam on more than one occasion,'' Father Lombardi recalled.
In his taped message, posted on the website of a Muslim extremist group, bin Laden threatened ''severe reactions'' to any further publication of the controversial cartoons.
