New Al Qaeda Video Released
Al Qaeda No. 2 Urges Muslim Support For Iraqi Insurgents In Internet Tape
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In a frame from a video provided by IntelCenter, posted on the Internet Thursday, April 13, 2006, Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri praises insurgents in Iraq. (AP Photo/IntelCenter)
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A new video, apparently by al Qaeda, calls on all Muslims to support rebels in Iraq and marks the anniversary of the battle of Tora Bora (above, in 2001, Afghan fighters searching for Osama bin Laden). (AP)
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The video is 28 minutes long, carries an Islamic calendar date corresponding to November 2005, and in the video, al-Zawahri mentions an Oct. 23 earthquake that hit Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Al-Zawahri has appeared in at least three videotapes filmed since November, all of them aired on the Al-Jazeera news network. Thursday's video, which appears to be surfacing for the first time, turned up on a Web forum used by Islamic militants to issue public statements and videos.
In the video, al-Zawahri is sitting, wearing a white turban and a grey robe with a microphone pinned to it. An automatic weapon is leaning against a brown backdrop behind him.
"The Islamic nation must support the heroic mujahedeen (holy warriors) in Iraq, who are fighting on the very front line for the dignity of Islam," said al-Zawahri, waving his right hand toward the camera. "To my brother mujahedeen in Iraq, I say, Stay firm. Stay together. Your enemy has begun to falter, so don't stop pursuing him until he flees defeated."
He called on Muslims to support his "beloved brother" Al-Zarqawi, who heads the terrorist group al Qaeda in Iraq. "I have lived with him up close, and have seen nothing but good from him," al-Zawahri said.
In other recent developments:
Al-Zawahri — an Egyptian who is Osama bin Laden's deputy in al Qaeda and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan — said he was making the video to mark the fourth anniversary of the December 2001 battle of Tora Bora, in which U.S. forces besieged bin Laden and al Qaeda fighters in mountainous caves of Afghanistan.
He denounced President Bush as the "Caesar of Washington" and accused him of lying about progress in the war on terror.
"Bush, son of Bush, eliminating Israel is the duty of every believer," al-Zawahri said. "Beggarly clerics... and every bankrupt propaganda machine is trying to convince the people to bring change by peaceful means, but the Islamic nation knows that its path is jihad (holy war) and the bearing of arms."
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
