In Islamic theology traditionally the forces of jihad ask for a truce when they are weak and need to gather strength. Hmmmm. From AP:
Al-Jazeera on Thursday aired an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, who says al-Qaida is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a truce “with fair conditions.”…
He said insurgents were winning the conflict in Iraq and warned that security measures in the West and the United States could not prevent attacks there.
“The proof of that is the explosions you have seen in the capitals of European nations,” he said “The delay in similar operations happening in America has not been because of failure to break through your security measures. The operations are under preparation and you will see them in your homes the minute they are through (with preparations), with God’s permission.”
The speaker did not give conditions for a truce in the excerpts aired by Al-Jazeera.
“We do not mind offering you a long-term truce with fair conditions that we adhere to,” he said. “We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat. So both sides can enjoy security and stability under this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been destroyed in this war.”
ADDENDUM: I have been asked to provide details of the truce in Islamic law. Here is a passage from Umdat al-Salik (Reliance of the Traveller), a Shafi’i Sharia manual endorsed by Al-Azhar University in Cairo as conforming to the “practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni community”:
Truces are permissible, not obligatory….Interests that justify making a truce are such things as Muslim weakness because of lack of numbers or materiel, or the hope of an enemy becoming Muslim…If the Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce with the Quraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud….The rulings of such a truce are inferable from those of the non-Muslim poll tax; namely, that when a valid truce has been effected, no harm may be done to non-Muslims until it expires. — Umdat al-Salik, o9.16