Aljazeera has aired a video in which al-Qaeda's number two leader urges Palestinians to reject the referendum proposed by their president and praises Abu Musab al-Zarqawi without mentioning his recent death in
In the video telecast on Friday, Ayman al-Zawahiri said addressing Muslims in general: "I call upon them to reject any referendum on
"
Mentioning armed Muslim fighters, prisoners and their families, al-Zawahiri said: "I call upon Muslims everywhere to support the brothers in
But he did not mention Hamas by name, which too opposes the referendum proposed by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, as he did in an earlier tape when he criticized the Palestinian Islamic movement for participating in elections.
Al-Zawahiri criticized the Arab peace initiative and blamed George W Bush, the
"The Arab leaders didn't have the courage ... to meet the Palestinians needs for one month because the Caesar of Washington gave orders to make the Palestinians starve by besieging them."
Al-Zarqawi praised
Speaking on
Aljazeera said that the tape was made before the announcement of al-Zarqawi's death, because al-Zawahiri praised the al-Qaida in
"God bless the prophet of Islam in
He sent greetings to the Shura Council of Mujahidin in
On developments in
"The spineless Sudanese government ... is joining the
Al-Zawahiri accused Omar al-Bashir,
He said: "I call upon every Muslim and everyone who has faith in
Egyptian judges
Talking about the campaign by a group of Egyptian judges for full independence of the judiciary, al-Zawahiri, who is Egyptian, urged judges to apply Islamic law.
"Oh judges, you won't obtain independence unless your country is liberated first, and our home will not be liberated unless Islamic Sharia [law] is implemented," he said.
Addressing the judges, he said, "the regime won't give you your independence because to do so would be to kill itself".
But al-Zawahiri also blamed the judges: "I have to be frank with you. You are part of the problem. You agreed on the constitution and the secular laws imposed on the nation by arms and suppression and torture and rigged elections."
Photo Caption
Ayman al-Zawahiri shown on a video aired by al-Jazeera on 9 June 2006