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 U.S. 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.
U.S. counterterrorism officials say 2009 has turned into the year of homegrown jihad, with the unmasking of the most serious suspected terror plots involving Americans in about five years.
U.S. investigators are still trying to determine what drew five young Americans to travel last month to Pakistan, where local authorities allege they had sought to join extremist groups that have attacked U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. U.S. investigators have interviewed some of the men, but haven't verified the information Pakistani officials have released on the case.
The surge in alleged terror cases has raised concerns among counterterrorism officials. Some officials say young men have been swayed by the escalating war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as intensifying Internet recruiting of Westerners by extremist groups. At a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing last month, experts on terrorism cited the recent cases as evidence that the threat of radicalization, long an issue in Europe, has become a major concern in the U.S.
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Thanks O. I had not heard yet about Al-Z’s new ‘barfage’.
Piper, you have given me tons of reading material......if I can find the time to go over it. Thanks, you have been a busy lady.
Thanks, Oorang.
A little more on Zawahiri’s latest here at Debka:
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6418
Thanks for the ping Oorang.