Aselhiej
19-12-2003, 20:48
Al-Qaida number two Ayman al-Zawahri has called American soldiers cowards "with no faith in their leaders". In an audio tape broadcast on Aljazeera TV on Friday, al-Zawahri said al-Qaida is pursuing Americans everywhere, but especially "in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Palestine and in the Arab peninsula". The tape, which has yet to be verified for authenticity, is said to have been made in November during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. It marks the second anniversary of the battle of Tora Bora, when US-led forces in Afghanistan sought to wipe out al-Qaida chief Usama bin Laden and other leaders of the group. On the run "Two years after Tora Bora... we continue to pursue the Americans everywhere," the voice said. "The Americans have become weaker in Iraq. Their soldiers are cowards because they have no faith in their leaders." Al-Zawahri, a former eye surgeon was born in Egypt in 1951. He was tried along with scores of Islamists for the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat during a Cairo military parade. In the 1990s, an Egyptian court sentenced him to death in absentia for activities linked to Jemaah Islamiya. He is currently on the run from US forces who believe he is with bin Laden, probably somewhere along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Aljazeera + Agencies