New Message from al Zawahiri “Soon”

A new message from al Qaeda’s No. 2 Ayman al Zawahiri entitled "Bush…the Vatican’s Pope…Darfur…and the Crusader Wars" will soon be released on the Internet, according to a banner posted on a number of websites often used by the group.  Announcing the upcoming release of messages from al Qaeda on the Internet has become a common practice for the group. The actual statements usually appear around two days after the announcement. A top Taliban commander told ABC News today by satellite phone that a tape from Osama bin Laden could also be expected soon. THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS The Story Behind the OBL Death Story Does al Qaeda’s No. 2 Leader Give the Hidden ‘Go Signal’ in New Tape? Click Here for More of the Brian Ross Page Al Zawahiri has been making an increasing number of statements in recent months. Since last March, he has made nine statements, all of them video. Al Zawahiri’s last message coincided with the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and came in the form of a video interview with al Qaeda’s so-called production company al Sahab. Today’s banner announcing the upcoming statement also carried al Sahab’s logo. Some observers had anticipated that al Qaeda’s media capabilities would improve and that it would release videos more frequently after Mohamed Khalil al Hakayma joined the group. Al Hakayma was part of the media department of the Egyptian al Gamaa al Islamiya group. He appeared in a video in August to declare his support following al Zawahiri’s announcement that the group had joined al Qaeda.