New Tape by Ayman al-Zawahiri Coming Soon

By Andrew Cochran

Rita Katz of the Site Institute and Laura Mansfield inform us that a new tape from Al Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri on the situation in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon will be released soon, as announced by AQ's As Sahab Productions. Both of them sent us the banner below from As Sahab. Rita Katz reports that the tape will be titled, "The Zionist-Crusader Enemy in Gaza and Lebanon." Last week, a site not affiliated with Al Qaeda created a brief flurry of interest by announcing an upcoming OBL tape, but that proved to be a phony announcement, and neither Rita Katz, Laura Mansfield, nor Evan Kohlmann trusted that announcement. See my post on that episode, along with a link to a story on a fatwa against Hezbollah by a leading Saudi Wahabi cleric and a translation of that fatwa by Evan. Evan's reaction to this announcement is that "this is a legitimate announcement, it's that simple." A message of support by Al Qaeda leadership for the Shiite Hezbollah would be an unexpected and troubling development, but we'll see what's in the tape. More as events warrant.