“Osama bin Laden threatened al Qaeda would kill any Americans it takes prisoner if accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is put to death, according to an audiotape aired on al Jazeera on Thursday [March 25, 2010]. …’This message is about our prisoners who you are holding,’ bin Laden said in the tape, complaining that U.S. President Barack Obama was still following ‘his predecessor’s steps’ on many issues including on al Qaeda detainees such as Mohammed. ‘The White House has expressed its desire to execute him. When America makes this decision, it will have made a decision to execute whoever of you is held prisoner by us,’ bin Laden said in the tape recording, whose authenticity could not be immediately confirmed.”
– Rania Oteify and Cynthia Johnston, “Bin Laden threatens Americans with execution,” Reuters, March 25, 2010