Al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman Al-Zawahiri called on Muslims to step up their resistance against the U.S. in a video aired by CNN early Monday on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The footage appeared to be new as al-Zawahri refers to Israel's bombardment of Lebanon during July and August and the capture of Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah and Palestinians in Gaza Strip. "Your leaders are hiding from you the true extent of the disaster," Al-Zawahiri says in the video. "And the days are pregnant and giving birth to new events, with Allah's permission and guidance."
"You gave us every legitimacy and every opportunity to continue fighting you," he said, addressing the U.S. "You should worry about your presence in the (Persian) Gulf, and the second place you should worry about is Israel."
As-Sahab, al Qaeda's media arm, posted notices late Sunday that the video would be posted shortly.
It criticizes the West for arming Israel and calls on the Islamic nation "to rush with everything at its disposal to the aid of its Muslim brothers in Lebanon and Gaza."
Al-Zawahiri says any attack on Westerners and Jews anywhere can be considered fair, because "the reality of international politics is the humiliation and repression of the Muslim at the hands of the idol-kings who dominate this world."
