Al-Qaida tape released
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Monday, 6 March: 12.28 CET) - A taped recording attributed to al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, calls on Muslims to stop Western countries from "stealing" Middle East oil and to attack the "economic infrastructure" of the West, CNN reports.
The recording, which was uploaded to Islamist websites on Sunday, urges al-Qaida members to attack the Western powers and to make them "bleed for years".
The speaker, who is identified as al-Zawahiri, adds, "We have to prevent the crusaders from stealing the Muslims' oil, which is being drained in the biggest robbery in history."
The release of the tape comes after a 24 February suicide car-bomb attack at the Abqaiq oil-processing plant in eastern Saudi Arabia. Saudi forces prevented car-loads of attackers from entering the facility.
Five insurgents, with purported links to the bombing attempt and al-Qaida, were later killed in a shootout with Saudi troops in the capital Riyadh.
The audio recording appeared to have been taken from a recent videotaped message by al-Zawahiri in which he praised Hamas for its victory in Palestinian elections, condemned further images of prisoner torture in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and criticized the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.
The recording, which was uploaded to Islamist websites on Sunday, urges al-Qaida members to attack the Western powers and to make them "bleed for years".
The speaker, who is identified as al-Zawahiri, adds, "We have to prevent the crusaders from stealing the Muslims' oil, which is being drained in the biggest robbery in history."
The release of the tape comes after a 24 February suicide car-bomb attack at the Abqaiq oil-processing plant in eastern Saudi Arabia. Saudi forces prevented car-loads of attackers from entering the facility.
Five insurgents, with purported links to the bombing attempt and al-Qaida, were later killed in a shootout with Saudi troops in the capital Riyadh.
The audio recording appeared to have been taken from a recent videotaped message by al-Zawahiri in which he praised Hamas for its victory in Palestinian elections, condemned further images of prisoner torture in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and criticized the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.
posted by Marko at 3/06/2006 07:41:00 AM
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