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'Deaths will not hit al-Qaeda'
10/09/2007 18:56 - (SA)
Dubai - An al-Qaeda leader said its war against the "infidel" United States would not be affected by the death of any of its commanders.
Abu Yahya al-Libi said in a video posted on the internet on Sunday that the spread of jihad ideology guaranteed the militant group's operations were not reliant on individuals.
"The Americans themselves realise now that the activities of the jihadist process are not hinged on the presence of any commander in particular and would not collapse should he be absent," Libi said in a 90-minute video interview posted on a website used by Islamist groups including Iraqi insurgents.
"Did the dreams and illusions of the administration of (US President George W) Bush come true? The answer is in what we see today in Iraq ... the grave losses that the Americans and their lackeys suffer every day."
Libi said the killing of al-Qaeda leaders such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq last year and Taliban leader Mulla Dadullah in Afghanistan this year did not hinder its operations.
"Should any of our commanders die, another would fill his place," he said in the video produced by al-Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab. "The mujahideen ... derive motivation from the blood of these leaders to stay the course, follow in their steps and work to avenge them."
He accused the United States and its allies of launching a campaign to tarnish al-Qaeda's image among Muslims and insisted the group did not target civilians in attacks in Muslim countries such as Algeria.
"The prime target of these blessed operations is portrayed to be the public and the weak while the criminality and apostasy which is targeted hides in the background ... in the media."
At least 57 people were killed in two al-Qaeda attacks in Algeria in the past few days.
Libi, who has regularly acted as a spokesperson for the group in recent months, is one of four al-Qaeda militants who broke out of a US prison in Afghanistan in 2005.
- Reuters
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