Zawahri says US defeated in
Iraq
The Sydney Morning Herald/Reuters
January 8, 2006
Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video aired on Friday
that US President George Bush's plans to withdraw troops from Iraq meant
Washington had been defeated by the Muslims.
He also criticised Islamist groups, including Egypt's banned Muslim
Brotherhood, for believing in Western-style democracy and taking part in
elections.
"Bush, you must confess that you have been defeated in Iraq and in
Afghanistan and you will be in Palestine soon," he said in the video broadcast
by Al Jazeera television.
Al Jazeera said the video by Osama bin Laden's second-in-command, which had
English subtitles, carried the date of the Muslim lunar month which ended in
December.
"I congratulate the Muslims on Islam's victory in Iraq. I said more than a
year ago that the Americans' departure from Iraq is only a matter of time,"
said the bespectacled Zawahri, who wore a white turban and sat next to an
assault rifle.
"But they are justifying their withdrawal by saying that the Iraqi forces
have reached a satisfactory level."
Critics of Mr Bush have demanded a quick withdrawal from Iraq, where around
2200 American military personnel have been killed since the 2003 US-led
invasion, and say the president needs a clear exit strategy.
Mr Bush, who has refused to set a timetable for any withdrawal, said on
Wednesday reducing troops in Iraq was possible in 2006.
But he said any cuts would be based on the situation on the ground and
decisions by military commanders, not on a political timetable imposed by
Washington.
In Washington, a US counter-terrorism official said: "US intelligence is
assessing the video tape. It appears to be a recitation of well-worn jihadist
themes. There's nothing particularly new."
The satellite television station aired portions of the tape.
Egyptian-born Zawahri said elections in his home country were a "US game ...
designed to mislead the Muslim public".
"America tells Islamists: every time your behaviour improves, we'll give you
more (seats), until you become secularists with only a false affiliation to
Islam."
In the elections late last year, candidates linked to the Muslim Brotherhood
increased their seats more than five-fold to 88 of the 444 elected seats,
confirming the group as Egypt's strongest opposition.
"My Muslim nation, you will never enjoy free elections ... and governments
answerable to their people ... unless you are liberated from the
Crusader-Zionist occupation and corrupt governments, and that can only be
achieved through jihad (holy war)."
Bin Laden and Zawahri have eluded capture since US-led forces toppled
Afghanistan's Taliban government in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the
United States by al-Qaeda.
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