Al Qaeda No. 2 Releases New Message

 

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Reiterating the message in Osama bin Laden's last address, al Qaeda's number two man, Ayman Zawahri released an audio message Wednesday, calling for the siege to be lifted off Ghaza.

Lamenting the 1967 Six Day War, referred to in the Arab world as "Al-Naksah" or "the setback," Zawahri follows bin Laden's technique of appealing to Muslim Arabs by rallying around the Palestinian cause. Zawahri's eleven and a half minute audio message appears against a backdrop of his picture next to a picture of a man holding an injured infant.

ABC News Photo Illustration

Ayman al Zawahri

The As-Sahab production dubs Arab leaders, particularly Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, "traitors," and calls for Egyptians to "get rid" of their "tyrant, corrupt leaders." Zawahri calls the Egyptian leadership historically crucial to the welfare of the Islamic world.

National security experts have noted messages from al Qaeda no longer send shockwaves through the world, and the increase in the frequency of messages demonstrates a desire among the group's leadership to regain relevancy.

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