Al-Qaida's No. 2 Leader Threatens Attacks

In a frame from a video provided by IntelCenter, posted on the Internet Thursday, April 13, 2006, Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri praises insurgents in Iraq. Al-Qaida's no. 2 leader on Thursday warned that the terrorist group would not stand idly by while "these (Israeli) shells burn our brothers" in Lebanon and Gaza. In a taped message broadcast by al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahri, second in command to Osama bin Laden, said al-Qaida now saw "all the world as a battlefield open in front of us." (AP Photo/ HO/ IntelCenter ) (AP)

"All the world is a battlefield open in front of us," he said in portions of the tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera television. "Like they attack us everywhere, we will attack them everywhere."

Speaking from what appeared to be a television studio, Osama bin Laden's deputy reissued threats against the United States, specifically for its backing of Israel.

"The shells and missiles that are ripping apart Muslims' bodies in Gaza and Lebanon are not purely Israeli, but are supplied by all the countries of the crusader coalition," he said. "We cannot just watch these shells as they burn our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and stand by idly, humiliated."

Bob Ayers, a security analyst at London's Chatham House think tank, said the message was a reminder of al-Qaida's role as a reference point for radical Muslims. "The real message that they're sending to all of us is that they're still there, they're still effective," he said.

Al-Zawahri spoke while seated in front of photographs of Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Mohammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former bin Laden lieutenant who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in 2001. Their photos flanked a picture of the World Trade Center in flames.

Some observers speculated al-Zawahri's use of that backdrop was a coded message to al-Qaida followers.

But Evan Kohlman, founder of the U.S.-based al-Qaida tracking organization globalterroralert.com, said the photos were chosen because of the dead militants' hatred of Israel and support for the Palestinian cause.

He also discounted speculation that al-Zawahri's call for Islamic unity meant he was holding out a hand to radical Shiites, the backbone of Hezbollah.

"Any idea that this is pro-Hezbollah is wrong," Kohlman said. "This is anti-Israel. That's what this is about. With this tape, al-Zawahri seems to be suggesting that the jihad to liberate Palestine is a natural outgrowth of the jihad in Iraq," he said.

Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal refused to comment on the al-Zawahri tape.

While backing the fight against Israel, al-Zawahri said every Muslim has a duty "to rise up and seek martyrdom and attack and inflict harm on crusaders" in the battle against U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He accused Arab countries of turning a blind eye to the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah and the Palestinians.

"My fellow Muslims, it is obvious that Arab and Islamic governments are not only impotent but also complicit ... and you are alone on the battlefield. Rely on God and fight your enemies ... make yourselves martyrs," he said.

Al-Jazeera did not transmit the entire tape, using selected quotes interspersed with commentary from an anchor. The satellite network said the full tape was about eight minutes long and it aired about half of it. Al-Jazeera would not comment on how it received the tape.

The message was al-Zawahri's tenth this year. Bin Laden, al-Qaida's founder, has issued five messages this year.

Al-Zawahri last appeared in a video posted on an Islamic Web site on the anniversary of the London transit bombings.

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Associated Press reporters Nadia Abu el-Magd and Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report.