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Al-Qaida touts US troop cuts in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-07 11:01
Al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, said in a videotape aired Friday that the
United States' decision to withdraw some troops from Iraq represented "the
victory of Islam" and called on Muslims to attack oil sites.
Al-Zawahri, wearing a white turban and gray robe and seated next to an
automatic rifle, waved his finger for emphasis as he spoke in the two-minute
excerpt aired by Al-Jazeera.
"I congratulate (the Islamic nation) for the victory of Islam in Iraq," he
said.
Al-Zawahri apparently was referring to comments last month by Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who said President Bush had authorized new troop
cuts below the 138,000 level that prevailed for most of last year.
Rumsfeld did not reveal the exact size of the cut, but the Pentagon said the
reductions would be about 7,000 troops, about the size of two combat brigades.
The Pentagon has not announced a timetable for the reductions, but indications
are that the force could be cut significantly by the end of this year.
Osama bin Laden sits with al Qaeda deputy
leader Ayman al-Zawahri (R) during an interview, November 10,
2001.[Reuters/file] | "You remember I told you more than a year ago that the American withdrawal
from Iraq is only a matter of time, and here they are now ... negotiating with
the mujahedeen," al-Zawahri said.
"Bush was forced at the end of last year to announce that he will pull out
his forces from Iraq, but he was giving excuses for his withdrawal that the
Iraqi forces have reached a good level."
Bush has not offered concrete details about bringing troops home but said
Wednesday that "possible adjustments" would be discussed with Iraqi leaders if
progress continued on security and political efforts.
A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity in
compliance with office policy, said that while the video appears to be
authentic, it has not been determined with certainty that it is al-Zawahri.
However, officials often note that no message has ever been fraudulently
attributed to al-Qaida's leadership.
Al-Zawahri said the American forces "with their planes, missiles, tanks and
fleets are mourning and bleeding, seeking for a getaway from Iraq."
"Regarding your withdrawal timetable ... you have to admit, Bush, that you
have been defeated in Iraq and are being defeated in Afghanistan and will be
defeated in Palestine," he said.
In comments quoted on Al-Jazeera's Web site but not yet broadcast, al-Zawahri
urged supporters to attack oil sites in Muslim countries.
"I call on mujahedeen to focus their attacks on Muslims' embezzled oil. Most
of its revenues go to the enemies of Islam; meanwhile most of what is left is
taken by the thieves who are ruling our countries," he said.
Al-Jazeera said the videotape was dated from December but gave no specific
date. Network spokesman Ayman Gaballah said the tape, about 20 minutes long, was
acquired through "a special source," but he would not elaborate. More excerpts
were expected to be aired later Friday.
In the videotape, the terror leader, an Egyptian, criticized Egypt's Muslim
Brotherhood for its participation in last year's parliamentary elections, saying
they were "duped, provoked and used" by America, who he said controlled the
polls.
"My Muslim nation, you will not enjoy free elections, protected sanctity,
governments which are being called to account by the people and a respectable
judiciary unless you are free from the crusader-Zionist occupation and the
corrupted governments, and this will not be fulfilled but with Jihad," he said.
Al-Zawahri claimed al-Qaida was growing and that Bush's claims that the group
was nearly destroyed were "nonsense merely in his own head."
"We want to tell all the Muslims that the mujahedeen al-Qaida, thank God, is
expanding and increasing in strength."
The last videotape from al-Zawahri aired by Al-Jazeera in October, called on
Muslims to aid victims of the massive earthquake in Pakistan.
In Friday's tape, he said: "If I was comforting the Islam nation for its
crisis of Pakistan's earthquake, I today congratulate it and bless the Islamic
victory in Iraq."
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