Al-Zawahri threatens new U.S. attacks

Washington - In a new video, Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri lashed out at President Bush for an American airstrike in Pakistan he claimed killed 18 civilians and threatened a new attack against the United States — "God willing, on your own land."

The video, broadcast Monday on Al-Jazeera TV, provided the first concrete evidence that al-Zawahri was still alive after the Jan. 13 airstrike that Pakistani officials said targeted him but was believed to have killed four other al-Qaida leaders.

"Bush, do you know where I am?" al-Zawahri, wearing white robes and a white turban, said in the tape aired a day before Bush's State of the Union address. "I am among the Muslim masses, enjoying God's blessing of their support, care, generosity and protection."

Al-Zawahri mocked Bush as a "failure" in the war on terror, called him a "butcher" for killing innocent Pakistanis in the miscarried airstrike and chastised his administration for rejecting a truce offered by bin Laden in a Jan. 19 audiotape — the al-Qaida leader's first tape in more than a year.

Bin Laden said his followers were preparing an attack in the United States and offered the Americans a conditional truce, though he did not spell out terms.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy, said there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the al-Zawahri video, which U.S. intelligence officials were analyzing.

The counterterrorism official noted the video was disseminated quickly, demonstrating al-Zawahri's ability to get his message out even faster than bin Laden. That suggests the two are not hiding together and bin Laden may be in a more remote location than his deputy, the official said.

"The al-Qaida leadership is clearly on the run and under a lot of pressure," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in response to the video.

The Homeland Security Department had no immediate plans to raise the nation's terror threat levels because of the new tape, said spokesman Russ Knocke.

U.S. officials had said after the bin Laden tape that no intelligence indicated an imminent al-Qaida attack. On Monday, FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said the bureau would ask agents around the country to review ongoing cases and tips in light of the latest video, especially with the State of the Union in Washington and the Super Bowl in Detroit this week.

In the video, al-Zawahri said the airstrike in Pakistan by an unmanned Predator craft targeted himself and four of his "brothers" in al-Qaida. Instead, he said, it killed 18 civilians — "men, women, and children" — and he called Bush "the butcher of Washington."

Pakistani intelligence officials have said the airstrike targeted a building where al-Zawahri had been expected to attend a holiday dinner but did not show up. The officials say four al-Qaida militants may have been killed in the attack — possibly including a son-in-law of al-Zawahri — but their identities have not been confirmed nor their bodies found.

Pakistani officials said 13 civilians died in the strike. Their deaths provoked widespread anger in Pakistan.

Al-Zawahri also invited Bush to convert to Islam. "If you accept, you will become a brother in our faith and God will forgive you your sins," Al-Jazeera quoted him as saying. The invitation was not in the excerpts aired by the Arab satellite station.

Al-Zawahri has issued several video and audiotapes in the past year, including one claiming al-Qaida's responsibility for the July 7 London bombings. His last video came on Jan. 6, when he called the U.S. decision to withdraw some troops from Iraq a victory for the Islamic world.

Mark Ensalaco, an international terrorism expert at the University of Dayton, Ohio, said the tape's release may have been timed for Bush's State of Union address. "Al-Qaida is very conscious of such things," he said.

"Having bin Laden and al-Zawahri appear in quick succession in these tapes underscores the fact that they're alive and well and still plotting attacks," he said. -- Associated Press

Click Here To Have Your Say On This Story

Brudirect.com News

Brunei's Fastest Growing Website with