Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Egyptians to protest what he termed
Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi’s “normalization” of ties with Israel, AFP
reported Friday.
In a 58-minute video summarized and translated by the
Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group, Zawahiri
called for mass demonstrations “against the Israeli embassy and against
normalization and the peace treaty with Israel, and against the Israeli
occupation of the land of Palestine, and against any concession and surrender to
it, and against every siege in Gaza.”
Zawahiri, who became the leader of
al-Qaida shortly after Osama bin Laden was killed by US troops, also pressed
the newly elected Egyptian president to clarify his position on relations with
the Palestinians and “the jihad to liberate Palestine.”
Egypt brokered an
informal cease-fire between Israel and Hamas earlier this week, after two days
of intense violence that saw some 80 rockets and mortar shells fired from the
Gaza Strip into the western Negev.
Alongside his mediation efforts, Morsi
reaffirmed his commitment to the Palestinian people and promised his support in
their “struggle” against Israel.
Speaking on state television to mark the
Id al-Adha festival, Morsi said, “We will never accept any assault or siege on
the Palestinians.”
Even so, some have questioned Morsi’s commitment to
Hamas.
Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said Thursday that “Egypt’s actions
against Hamas are much harsher [now] than they were under the previous regime.”
In a separate video released on the Internet, Zawahiri called for Muslims to
kidnap Westerners and urged the full implementation of Shari’a (Islamic)
law.
“The battle isn’t over, but it has started,” Zawahiri said. “I call
upon Muslims to capture citizens of the countries that wage wars against
Muslims.”
Zawahiri, who was bin Laden’s lieutenant and the brains behind
much of al-Qaida’s strategy for many years, also directly challenged US
President Barack Obama, calling him a “professional liar.”
“Obama must
admit he and his allies are standing in the defeated line, and that Osama bin
Laden, may Allah have mercy on him, and the rest of the mujahedeen and the
Muslim Ummah [nation] are standing in the victorious line, whether anyone likes
it or not,” he said Zawahiri.