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Al-Qaeda warns Israel
11/09/2006 22:49 - (SA)
Dubai - Al-Qaeda warned in a video aired
on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks that US
allies Israel and the Gulf Arab states would be the next targets
in a campaign that would seal the West's economic doom.
Deputy al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in remarks
apparently addressed to Western leaders: "I tell them do not
bother yourselves with defending your forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan. "These forces are doomed to failure.
"You have to bolster your defences in two areas ... the
first is the Gulf, from which you will be evicted, God willing,
after your defeat in Iraq and then your economic doom will be
achieved," he said in the video broadcast in part on the Arabic
Al-Jazeera television channel.
"And the next (target) is Israel. The current of holy war is
closing on it and your end there will put an end to the
Zionist-crusader supremacy." 'Enemies of Islam
Zawahri also condemned United Nations forces in Lebanon as
"enemies of Islam", the first implicit threat against the
international peacekeeping detachment.
Zawahri's warning of attacks in the Gulf, the world's top
oil exporting region, follows previous calls by al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden to target oil facilities to cripple the West.
Al Qaeda has also in the past branded US-allied
governments in the Middle East as infidels and traitors, and has
used these links with the West to justify their attacks.
US officials have yet to authenticate the videotape, but
believe it to be genuine.
Gulf in al-Qaeda's sights
Zawahri blasted a UN resolution that governs a ceasefire
that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
"The biggest problem with resolution 1701 and similar
resolutions designed to humiliate Muslims is ... its declaration
of the existence of the Jewish state," Zawahri said.
"(The resolution) also isolates the mujahideen in Palestine
from the Muslims in Lebanon by the presence of international
forces that are the enemies of Islam."
Gulf Arab leaders all have strong ties with Washington and
Saudi-born bin Laden has in the past singled out the Saudi royal
family for censure. The Saudi wing of al-Qaeda launched in 2003
a campaign of shootings and suicide bombings - many targeting
foreigners - to topple the House of Saud.
In February, al Qaeda militants conducted a failed attack on
the world's largest oil processing plant in Saudi Arabia. The
group then vowed to carry out more attacks.
Insurgents in Iraq have often targeted oil facilities and in
Yemen - bin Laden's ancestral homeland which is cracking down on
militants - al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the bombing
of the US destroyer Cole in 2000 and an attack on a French
super tanker two years later. 'Legitimate excuse'
In the video, Zawahri warned of "new events" and said the
policies of Western countries were giving militants a
"legitimate excuse" to fight them.
Excerpts of the same video were also aired by the CNN
television network, which quoted Zawahri as urging Muslims to
step up attacks against the United States and the West.
"Your leaders are hiding from you the true extent of the
disaster," Zawahri said. "And the days are pregnant and giving
birth to new events, with God's permission and guidance."
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