Al-Qaida No. 2 sends new message to Muslims
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - March 24, 2008 The al-Zawahri tape came on the heels of a message from Osama
bin Laden, who called for a holy war to liberate the Palestinian
territories. Together, the two messages appeared to be a more
direct push by the terror network's leadership to use widespread
anger over the Gaza violence to whip up support.
Israel's weeklong offensive in Gaza ended in early March. It was
launched in an attempt to put down Palestinian militants firing
rockets against nearby the Israeli town of Sderot and city of
Ashkelon. The Israeli assault killed more than 120 people,
including many civilians. Three Israelis also were killed.
Bin Laden and al-Zawahri have frequently referred to the
Palestinian cause in their past messages, but usually in broader
terms of liberating Jerusalem and denouncing Israeli violence.
Their latest calls for attacks, however, had a more immediate and
urgent tone.
The string of messages has raised concerns that al-Qaida could
be planning new attacks in the West - or is seeking to inspire its
sympathizers to carry out violence. In another message last week,
bin Laden warned of a "severe" reaction against Europe after
Danish papers published a cartoon seen as insulting Islam's Prophet
Muhammad.
The authenticity of the 4 minute, 44-second audiotape could not
be independently confirmed. But the voice resembled that of
al-Zawahri on previous audio and videotapes confirmed to be his. It
was posted on an Islamic militant Web site where al-Qaida usually
releases its statements, and a banner advertising the tape had the
logo of al-Qaida's media arm, Al-Sahab.
"Muslims, today is your day. Strike the interests of the Jews,
the Americans, and all those who participated in the attack on
Muslims," al-Zawahri said. "Monitor the targets, collect money,
prepare the equipment, plan with precision, and then - while
relying on God - assault, seeking martyrdom and paradise."
Al-Zawahri said attacks should not be limited to places in
Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"Today there is no room for he who says that we should only
fight the Jews in Palestine," he said. "Let us strike their
interests everywhere, just like they gathered against us from
everywhere."
"Let them know that they will get blood for every dollar they
spend in the killing of the Muslims, and for every bullet they fire
at us, a volcano will turn back on them," he said, referring to
American military aid and other ties to Israel. "They cannot
expect to support Israel, then live in peace while the Jews are
killing our fugitive and besieged people."
Israeli officials declined to comment on the new tape.
Al-Zawahri also referred to the publishing of the cartoon seen
as insulting Islam's prophet. The cartoons, which sparked deadly
riots across the Muslim world in 2006 after they were first
published, were reprinted last month.
"They will never be able to insult and make a mockery out of
our Prophet, peace and prayers of Allah upon him," al-Zawahri
said.
The Egyptian-born Al-Zawahri accused Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak of colluding with Israel in the siege of Gaza. Egypt has
sealed its border with the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian
militant group Hamas took over the territory last year.
He said Mubarak "repeats the same dirty role" as the Lebanese
Phalangists - a Christian militia that was allied with Israel in
Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war and was blamed in the massacre of
Palestinian refugees in the Beirut camps of Sabra and Shatila.
"The roles are the same, even if the faces change - the same
betrayal even if the names have changed," said al-Zawahri.
Ben Venzke, head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors
al-Qaida message traffic, said in an e-mail that the "direct use
of language and sense of urgency" in al-Zawahri's call for attacks
- alongside bin Laden's audiotapes last week - "is cause for
concern that al-Qaeda may be moving closer to executing a
large-scale attack against EU, American and/or Jewish interests."
But Venzke said it's difficult to predict because in the past,
attacks sometimes came more than a year after an al-Qaida threat.
In his audiotape posted on the Web on Thursday, bin Laden said,
"Palestine cannot be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but
with fire and iron."
There has been little sign in the past of direct involvement by
al-Qaida militants in Israeli-Palestinian violence, though Israeli
officials and the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
have warned that the terror network's presence in the area is
quietly growing.
With the latest messages, al-Qaida may be responding to
impatience among its sympathizers over the lack of direct al-Qaida
involvement in the Palestinian issue. Supporters have frequently
posted messages on Islamic militant Web forums asking when the
group will carry out attacks inside Israel.
The increased focus on the Palestinian issue also reflects the
terror network's desire to show it is up to date on the latest
events in the region, even as al-Zawahri, bin Laden and other
leaders are believed to remain in hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan
border region.
The Israeli assault in Gaza was heavily covered in Arab media,
particularly Arab satellite TV news networks such as Al-Jazeera,
which aired footage of casualties and damage from Israeli strikes
in the Mediterranean coastal strip.
The fighting has hampered a new round of peace talks launched at
a conference hosted by the U.S. in November. The Bush
administration has been pushing the two sides to sign a peace deal
by the end of the year.