DUBAI, March 12: The Al Qaeda network has set up squads of female suicide bombers who take orders from Osama bin Laden and will target the United States, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

The Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat published an e-mail interview with a woman calling herself “Um Osama”, or the mother of Osama, and “leader of the women mujahideen of Al Qaeda”.

She told the daily her instructions came from Osama and “brothers in Al Qaeda and the Taliban” via Mullah “Seif Edin”.

“We communicate mainly via internet,” she added.

The women bombers include Afghans, Arabs, Chechens and others nationalities “who are present in all the countries of the world.

“We are preparing for the new strike announced by our leaders and I declare that it will make America forget ... the Sept 11 attacks in 2001,” Um Osama said.

“The idea of women kamikazes came from the success of martyr operations carried out by young Palestinian women in the occupied territories.

“Our organization is open to all Muslim women wanting to serve the (Islamic) nation ... particularly in this very critical phase,” as the United States moves towards an invasion of Iraq.

“Our female fighters are training to use weapons such as the Kalashnikov, grenades and assault rifles,” she said.

“Besides martyr operations, our mission is to provide logistical support to the mujahideen and intelligence on the hypocrites wanted by the mujahideen”, she explained.

“We intend to set up training camps in areas where there are large numbers of female mujahideen such as the Arabian peninsula.

“In Afghanistan, female mujahideen are fighting the infidel forces on the ground,” Um Osama said, citing the example of “a young Afghan woman who blew herself up with a belt of explosives as five members of the crusader forces tried to take her prisoner.

“Our nation will not rest without revenge. We will avenge our brothers,” she said of senior Al Qaeda suspects who have been arrested. —AFP