Al-Zawahri, feeling enslaved
Photo: AP Photo/HO/IntelCenter
Obama, under attack
Photo: AP
Al-Qaeda No. 2 blasts Obama, US Arab allies
Terror group's deputy leader accuses US president of cheating Arab world by failing to advance Mideast peace talks, urges Muslims to wage war outside Israel, Palestinians territories
Al-Qaeda's deputy leader has accused President Barack Obama of cheating the Arab world by failing to advance Middle East peace talks.
In a new Internet posting, Ayman Al-Zawahri also scoffs at key American allies in the region - the Egyptian president and the Jordanian king - for making peace with Israel.
The 25-minute audio message focuses on Obama.
Al-Zawahri says the US president's Mideast policy is "another cycle in the Crusader and Zionist campaign to enslave and humiliate us."
Al-Zawahri also urged Muslims and Palestinians to wage holy war outside Israel and the Palestinian territories, and praised Muslim militants fighting in Pakistan.
The authenticity of Monday's message could not be independently confirmed.
In August, Zawahri said Israel should be wiped off the map and described the Jewish state as a crime against Muslims.
Zawahri then also accused Obama of conducting a policy on Israeli-Palestinian issues that was bound to end in failure for the Palestinians, and said Obama wanted a Palestinian state that would serve as "an extension of the CIA."
"Israel is a crime that should be removed," Zawahri said in an interview with al Qaeda's media arm As-sahab, posted on an Islamist website.
