- CAIRO (AP) -- For the second
year in a row, al-Qaida released a video tape rallying its supporters near
the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and experts were investigating
if the images of the terror network's No. 2 leader were new or not.
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- In the tape, broadcast Thursday on Arab television, Ayman
al-Zawahri proclaims that the United States will be defeated in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
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- A bearded Zawahri, wearing eyeglasses, a white turban
and a black vest over a white shirt, looked into the camera as he spoke.
An assault weapon was propped against the wall behind him.
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- "The defeat of America in Iraq and Afghanistan has
become a matter of time, with God's help," al-Zawahri said on the
tape. "The Americans in both countries are between two fires, if they
continue they bleed to death and if they withdraw they lose
everything."
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- U.S. forces face fierce resistance in parts of
Afghanistan
and across Iraq, but military commanders insist they maintain the upper
hand against insurgents in both countries.
-
- Pakistani army spokesman General Shaukat Sultan, whose
forces staged an offensive against al-Qaeda and Taliban loyalists in the
border region with Afghanistan this week, said the tape was likely aimed
at "boosting the morale of the terrorists who have suffered heavy
casualties."
-
- Judging from reaction on websites known for militant
Muslim comment, those who share al-Qaeda's view of the United States as
the enemy of Islam found reassurance in Mr. al-Zawahri's appearance.
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- "God is great, how beautiful is Sheik Ayman's
face,"
wrote a contributor to one of militant web sites on Friday. "Thank
God, who alleviated our worry, and pleased the heart and showed us these
bright faces, after we've been seeing the faces of the oppressors and
hypocrites,
day and night."
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- Other militant Web sites carried portions of the tape,
purported photographs of Osama bin Laden on the battlefield and of the
19 Sept. 11 suicide hijackers with captions declaring them
"martyrs"
and "heroes of the battles of New York and Washington."
-
- A previously unknown group calling itself
"Supporters
of al-Zawahri" posted a web statement Friday claiming to have
kidnapped
two Italian aid workers in Iraq, accusing the Italian government of helping
U.S. soldiers abuse Iraqi prisoners, and saying if the Italy wants to know
any more about the condition of the abducted women, it must pledge to
release
all Muslim women held in Iraqi prisons.
-
- The authenticity of the claim could not be verified,
but its appearance a day after Mr. al-Zawahri's video aired demonstrates
how militant thinkers try to use current events to draw attention to their
cause.
-
- The widely popular Arab television satellite channel
al-Jazeera continued Friday to air the tape, which is had exclusively.
It had aired too late Thursday for newspapers in the Arab world to include
in Friday's editions.
-
- Al-Qaeda has issued an audio tape from bin Laden, in
the two previous years on Sept. 10. Intelligence officials were working
to confirm the speaker was Mr. al-Zawahri.
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