TERRORISM: ZAWAHIRI CITES KHOMEINI IN APPARENT OVERTURE TO SHIITES
Doha, 27 July (AKI) - The latest statement by Ayman al-Zawahiri aired on Thursday by al-Jazeera is an unprecedented step by the number two leader of a Sunni militant group towards Shiite movements and perhaps even the Hezbollah militias. At the end of the statement announcing that al-Qaeda will avenge Israel's offensive on Lebanon and the Palestinians, Al-Zawahiri launches an appeal to the 'disposessed of the world' (in Arabic 'Mustadifin fil ard'), a Koranic term often used by the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in his speeches following the 1979 revolution.
Such a quote by the man who is widely considered al-Qaeda's strategist is unlikely to be a coincidence. An overture to a potential alliance with the Shiites must be viewed as part of a new Middle Eastern context within which the leader of the Shiite militia Hezbollah, Hassan Nasralla, is consider the new leader in the war on Israel.
Indeed al-Zawahiri says in his statement that al-Qaeda will not stand idle as Israel continues its offensive on Lebanon and the Palestinians, possibly hinting that his organization could help the Lebanon-based militants or carry out attacks on Israeli targets.
Al-Zawahiri's overture to the Shiites is however not totally unexpected. In a message a few months ago, the number two of al-Qaeda warned the late leader of the organization in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died on 8 June in a US air raid, against mass murders of Shiite civilians in Iraq. The issue was allegedly a main point of divergence between the two top al-Qaeda officials.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.325240329&par=0
MIDDLE EAST: NEW HEZBOLLAH SITE TO PROVIDE COVERAGE OF LEBANON CONFLICT
Tehran, 26 July (AKI) - Hezbollah's offensive against Israel will have a new tool from now on - online news coverage of the conflict. The Tehran branch of the Lebanon-based Shiite militant group announced on Wednesday that a new web site has been created to provide around-the-clock news of the "resistance against the Zionist invasion of Lebanon" the guerrilla group announced in a statement. The website - which viewers can access by clicking www.lobnannews.com or www.moqavemat.com - will be available in three languages, Arabic, Farsi and English.
http://www.lebanonhezbollah.com/
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.324900987&par=0