Top Story USA
24
January 2007
Zawahiri taunts Bush over troop escalation
An online video message has emerged in which Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri,
the number two in command of Al Qaeda, has warned the US of
dire consequences 'worse than anything you have seen' if the
country persists in sending more troops to Iraq.
News of Dr al-Zawahiri's speech "The Correct Equation"
was first published on the website of the Washington-based Search
for International Terrorism Entities (SITE) institution who
monitors the output of as-Sahab, the terrorist group's multimedia
arm.
President Bush plans to send an additional 21,500 troops to
Iraq in an attempt to secure the country from increasing sectarian
violence. His plan has been severely criticized by Democratic
members of Congress and some members of Bush's own Republican
Party
The video, which has English subtitles, sees Egyptian militant’s
call to recruit people to fight against US-led coalition forces
in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine.
Warning the American people, Dr al-Zawahiri said: "If
we are secure, you might be secure, and if we are safe, you
might be safe. And if we are struck and killed, you will definitely
- with Allah's permission - be struck and killed."
"I ask him, why send 20,000 [troops] only - why not send
50,000 or 100,000? Aren't you aware that the dogs of Iraq are
pining for your troops' dead bodies?"
said Dr al-Zawahiri.
The leader also calls on "Arab nationalists and leftists"
to return to Islam and reject the international laws which,
he argues, have divided the Muslim world.
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