In Tape, Al Qaeda Says U.S. Rules Pakistan

English Language Message Believed To Be From From Ayman al-Zawahri Criticizes Pervez Musharraf

(AP)  In a rare English-language message partially aired Sunday that is believed to be from Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri claimed Pakistan is now "virtually ruled from the American Embassy."

The Pakistani ARY channel gave a copy of the tape, whose authenticity could not immediately be verified, to The Associated Press. However, an AP reporter who has reviewed his past recordings said the voice sounds like that of al-Zawahri.

It is not clear when the tape was made, but it includes apparently recent pictures of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and others in the ruling coalition, indicating it was created since the February election that brought President Pervez Musharraf's foes to power.

The audio overlays a series of images, including a static one of al-Zawahri, who along with Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the rugged and lawless region along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Earlier this month, CBS News reported it had obtained a copy of an intercepted letter from unnamed sources in Pakistan that urgently requested a doctor to treat al-Zawahri. A spokesman for a top Taliban leader in Pakistan denied the report.

In the tape aired Sunday, Al-Zawahri lists a litany of charges against Musharraf, who he says has betrayed Muslims by supporting the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in its battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"Pervez has insulted and compromised Pakistan's sovereignty by allowing the CIA and FBI to operate freely in Pakistan and arrest, interrogate, torture, deport and detain any person, whether Pakistani or not, for as long as they like, thus turning the Pakistani army and security agencies into hunting dogs in the contemporary crusade," said the purported tape from al-Zawahri.

Much of the hour-long address is an appeal to Pakistani soldiers to rethink their role in the fighting that has often pitted them against their countrymen, especially in the tribal regions.

Al-Zawahri also mentions last year's deadly military siege of Islamabad's radical Red Mosque - an incident that militants have often used to rally support for their cause.

"Every soldier and officer should absolutely disobey any order to kill Muslims or aid their killers," says al-Zawahri, who also singled out Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as a "hostile enemy of Islam."

He urged Pakistanis to rise up and fight the United States or at least support the insurgents.

The tape carries the logo of al-Sahab, al Qaeda's media arm and, though in English, also has English subtitles and sometimes Arabic ones.

It was delivered to ARY by a man on a motorbike Sunday, according to Faizullah Khan, a reporter for the channel. It not only features static images, but also includes clips of interviews Musharraf has given, footage of him giving speeches and other video segments.

Ben Venzke - the head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors and analyzes militant messages - said it was the first official message released by al-Sahab in which the Egyptian-born al-Zawahri speaks English.

Al-Zawahri is a doctor by training and speaks English. In the tape he talks precisely and clearly, though with an Egyptian accent.

He apologizes for speaking "the language of the Muslims' enemies" but notes he does not speak the "charming" Pakistani Urdu language and that most Pakistanis do not know Arabic.

The tape's release comes amid U.S. pressure on the Pakistani government to do more to eliminate Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in its tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, areas considered militant sanctuaries.

The main ruling parties, however, have been caught up in internal political battles, including disputes over what to do with Musharraf. Last week, the ruling parties announced they had agreed to seek to impeach the president, ramping up the pressure on him to resign.

Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 military coup and dominated Pakistan for years, has been largely sidelined since the February elections but has shown no intention of stepping down.

[demex97]

Hey RandyNason....I''d like to see you make that dumb comment to some family members that lost loved ones on 9-11. He is not a freedom fighter and how dare you make that assertion.

[larryhammick]

It''s unusual for AQ to give its propaganda to a local Pakistani news organ, instead of to the web or to their rooters at al-Jazeera. Maybe Zawahiri''s audio is old "scrap" to which the as-Sahab computer guy added some old and irrelevant video. And the relatively heavy fighting in the tribal area may have disrupted AQ''s communications for the time being.

Notice that Zawahiri did not mention his recently dead fellow Egyptian Midhat Mursi (Abu Khabab) nor Aafia Siddiqui.

[petro49l]

Osama is busy growing exotic poppies for his tar heroin business. The profits of his illicit enterprise are staggering. Hard-core Addicts all over the world crave his narcotics. Bin Laden hopes to fund Terror Organizations operating in the United States. Bin Laden feels that he can bring the war back to America. According to Bin Laden the lesson of 9-11 is that will of the people is demoralized by the destruction of their infrastructure. The Russians made that point to the Georgians and to the Germans during World War II.

[trrrorislamx]

Posted by downtowner97 at 09:18 PM : Aug 10, 2008

Being non-Muslim in Islamic nations means ''protection''--and problems.(World: Iraq)

The official term for this right is "dhimmitude." The world''s foremost expert on the subject, Bat Ye''Or, coined the word in 1983 to describe the legal and social condition of Jews and Christians (dhimmis) subjected to Islamic rule. Broadly interpreted, it appears benign: Non-Muslims enjoy a protected status among their Muslims neighbors: But dhimmitude becomes problematic because its supposed safeguards and protections can be withdrawn as selectively as they are applied by rulers or governments of Islamic states.

In Iraq, as in other predominately Muslim states, Christianity has existed side by side with Islam for centuries. For some observers (as well as those who experience it firsthand), the status of Christians is not one of cheery coexistence. Rather, it may be more like the old racial divides in the United States, where blacks lived near, but not integrated into, white society, and where they "kept their place"--separate and unequal.

In a July 24 interview with NCR, Baghdad Archbishop Jean Sleiman, leader of Iraq''s Latin Catholic church, said that in Iraq, "Christians and Muslims can I-live] side by side--but only side by side. Side by side, but not equally. No mixing, no integration."
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-121763784.html

[downtowner97]

When Roosevelt said that, WE were the world''s leading producer of oil. Bush Senior, not a democrat, made offshore drilling illegal, which has led to our dependence on Saudi oil. Reagan, don''t forget, gave weapons to Iran AND Iraq, as did Bush Senior.

The 500,000 Christians in Iraq have had to flee for their lives after Bush Junior invaded. Saddam had protected their right to practice their religion, and his right hand man was a practicing Catholic.

Mistakes have been made by presidents from both parties, the worst of which has been to sell weapons to countries with a history of violence.

[trrrorislamx]

Posted by RandyNason at 07:59 PM : Aug 10, 2008

YOU DO NOT LIKE THE USA IN THE MIDDLE EAST,,,

BLAME THE DEMONIC-RATS,,,

THE DEMONIC-RAT DOCTRINE,,,

On February 16, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the "the defense of Saudi Arabia is vital to the defense of the United States." On February 14, 1945, while returning from the Yalta Conference, Roosevelt met with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia on the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal, the first time a U.S. president had visited the Persian Gulf region.

The Carter Doctrine was a policy proclaimed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter in his State of the Union Address on 23 January 1980, which stated that the United States would use military force if necessary to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf region. The doctrine was a response to the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, and was intended to deter the Soviet Union%u2014the Cold War adversary of the United States%u2014from seeking hegemony in the Persian Gulf. After stating that Soviet troops in Afghanistan posed "a grave threat to the free movement of Middle East oil," Carter proclaimed:

Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_Doctrine

[randynason]

What he says is true. Is Ayman al-Zawahri a terrorist, or a freedom fighter? The U.S. needs to pull out and stay out of other nation''s affairs.

[downtowner97]

Today I met a very nice farmer. He is genuinely concerned about our economy, loves his role as a farmer because feeding others makes him feel good. He is a good listener, and a polite talker, and he believes that religion has tainted the teachings of Jesus.

After talking to him for over an hour, he said "The reason God gave us the atom bomb is so that we can kill all the towel heads". I almost threw up. I said "Why don''t you go to the Middle East yourself and pick a ''towel head'' child out of a crowd and kill him youself with your bare hands". He replied "I would to keep him from growing up and coming after me". I told him that genocide is a conversation stopper for me, and I walked away without saying goodbye.

It''s haters like this farmer on both sides who keep this fight going, and who may get us all killed. Haters are the minority in all societies, but they get their hands on the big guns because the power of government lures them.

The Qur''an teaches peace and war, and the Bible teaches peace and war. We have to be better than people who wrote these books so long ago and learn to be peaceful. The people of Pakistan want to be left alone, to work, live and worship as they please. If we arrest their teachers, their philosophers and their tribal leaders for wanting to be left alone, we''ll be attacked.