TAIWAN: KMT aide backs Osama ads

After initially disowning campaign posters comparing President Chen Shui-bian to Osama bin Laden and former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) campaign official rallied to their defense yesterday -- little more than a week after apologizing for a Hitler slur

Taipei Times
Wednesday, March 24, 2004

After initially disowning campaign posters comparing President Chen Shui-bian to Osama bin Laden and former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) campaign official rallied to their defense yesterday -- little more than a week after apologizing for a Hitler slur.

A campaign poster released by Taichung Mayor Jason Hu's KMT campaign headquarters before Saturday's election pictured bin Laden with the caption: "I'm terrorist kingpin bin Laden and I admire Taiwan's A-bian." Another picture entitled "bin Laden's masterpiece" showed New York's World Trade Center on fire as it collapsed following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"Over the past four years, Chen has been creating confrontation and distrust among different ethnic groups, which is a kind of terrorism," said Lin Po-jung, convenor of the headquarters. "Also, his willful decision to press ahead with the referendum is similar to the style of Saddam Hussein."

Date Posted: 3/24/2004