Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman Zawahri called on Muslims to fight the United States and its allies around the world in a new video aired today.
"Stand oh nation of Islam under the victorious banner of the Prophet . . . and campaign against the Crusader banner of Bush," Zawahri said in the tape.
"Go forth . . . to the mujahideen, bear them arms, back them, defend them and don't be intimidated by the power of America for these two blessed attacks have revealed that it is a power of iron and fire, with no faith or morals or principle."
The video was the third featuring high-profile al-Qaeda leaders this month to mark the September 11th, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington in which almost 3,000 people were killed.
Zawahri praised the actions of al-Qaeda-linked groups fighting in Afghanistan, north Africa, Somalia, Chechnya and Iraq. He also called on Pakistanis to avenge the killing of a rebel cleric sympathetic to Afghanistan's Taliban in July.
At least 75 of Ghazi's followers were killed in an assault on the Lal Masjid, a mosque and school complex in Pakistan. The group is sympathetic to the Taliban, who were removed from power in Afghanistan by US-led forces.
