Qaeda's Zawahri says Palestinian elections futile

[Casey]

Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:59 AM ET

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video tape aired on Wednesday that Palestinian elections would not free Palestinian land and would deal a blow to holy war against Israeli occupation.

"Those who are trying to free Islamic land through elections that are based on secular constitutions ... will not free a grain of Palestinian sand, but will choke jihad," he said in the tape broadcast by Al Jazeera television.

It was not clear when the recording, only excerpts of which were aired, was made. An Islamist Web site has said it would release a recording of Zawahri, the right hand man of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Saturday for early elections to break a deadlock between his Fatah faction and Hamas, which has accused him of a "coup" against its elected government.

"Retreating in the face of the West will not satisfy it, no matter how adept we are at maneuvering and negotiations," Egyptian militant leader Zawahri said.

"Any path other than jihad will only lead us to loss and defeat," he added.

In a video aired on June 9, Zawahri urged Palestinians to reject a referendum on a statehood proposal that implicitly recognizes Israel.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-12-20T085930Z_01_L20490859_RTRUKOC_0_US-PALESTINIANS-ZAWAHRI.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L3-Top+NewsNews-4

[Casey]

Jazeera TV says to air tape by al Qaeda's Zawahri
Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:09 AM ET

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Jazeera television said on Wednesday it would air a tape by al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri.

The station did not give further details in its news flash.

The tape would be the first since September 29 when Zawahri appeared in a video posted on the Internet in which he called President Bush a lying failure for talking of progress in the war on terrorism.

link (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-12-20T080856Z_01_L20482101_RTRUKOC_0_US-QAEDA-ZAWAHRI-JAZEERA.xml&src=rss)

[Casey]

Al-Qaida's Zawahri calls for holy war to liberate Palestine


Doha-based al-Jazeera satellite television Wednesday broadcast a tape by al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri who called for a holy war to liberate Palestine.

In the video tape, the al-Qaida number two said that only Jihad (holy war) can bring about the liberation of the occupied Palestinian territories and any other way will only lead to loss and defeat.

"Those trying to liberate the land of Islam through elections based on secular constitutions ... will not liberate a grain of sand of Palestine," he added.

The deputy leader of Al-Qaida made the comments against the backdrop of a call by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last Saturday for early elections in an attempt to defuse escalating conflicts between Fatah and the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

During the short footage of a video tape, whose authenticity could not be independently confirmed, Zawahri called Abbas as "America's man in Palestine," warning that if Palestinians accepted Abbas as their president, it would be "the end of holy war".

Zawahri said that Palestinian elections would not free Palestinian land and would deal a blow to holy war against Israeli occupation.

Muslim's retreating will not win the approval of the West despite their skilled maneuvering and talking, he said.

The new message of Zawahri came two days after an Islamic militant website announced on Monday that Osama bin Laden's second- in-command would soon release a new message.

In September, Zawahri released a video to mark the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack, calling U.S. President George W. Bush a "lying failure" for saying progress had been made in the war on terrorism.

Source: Xinhua


http://english.people.com.cn/200612/20/eng20061220_334406.html