Alleged al Qaeda message mourns comrade, mentions flotilla raid

(News Today) - A man identified as al Qaeda's No. 2 official issued a eulogy for a slain comrade and made reference to a few hot-button events in recent months: the botched Times Square car bombing, the Israeli commando flotilla strike and the proposed burqa ban in France.

The remarks came in an audio message said to be from Ayman al-Zawahiri that was posted on Islamist websites. It appeared Tuesday, but it is not clear when it was produced.

CNN could not verify the authenticity of the message. Another message said to be from al-Zawahiri appeared earlier in July.

The speaker mourns the loss of Sheikh Mustafa Abu Yazid, who had been third in command, and said he was killed along with six other family members in recent weeks.

His martyrdom "marks the glad tidings of the coming victory in Afghanistan, and soon the banner of the victorious Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will be flying all over this blessed land."

Al-Zawahiri mentions the May 1 attempted Times Square bombing and addresses people from the United States and NATO countries: "You are the ones who are paying the hefty price.

"Your leaders are collecting the money and the wealth from their war trades, and you are nothing but the fuel and the victims. We did offer you a truce once. We can all benefit, but your governments rejected our call for peace with all arrogance and conceit. This is why the campaigns against you kept coming one after the other, everywhere from Indonesia to Times Square, throughout Madrid and London. These campaigns will continue, and the jihadi reinforcement is still coming," he said.

As for Turkey, he said the Turks "need to restore the dignity of the Ottoman Empire" and end all "deals and treaties" with Israel. He said change won't come via flotillas for Gaza.

The speaker was making reference to the May 31 Israeli raid on an aid flotilla headed to blockaded Gaza. Violence during the raid left nine people dead on a Turkish ship and further frayed Israel's once-close relationship to Turkey.

He also criticized the proposed burqa ban in France, noting that "freedom in the West is selective, and it is a freedom that only guarantees their Western rights."

"I can say that France with all of its might and power doesn't dare to touch the headscarf of a nun, but they defy our faith and want to transgress against our veiled Muslim women."

The French parliament's lower house voted for the ban; the measure goes to the Senate for debate.

Source : CNN

Posted in: