Osama bin Laden’s chief deputy warned today that al-Qaeda still has plans to target Western countries which have been involved in the Iraq war.
The comments by Ayman al-Zawahri came in a lengthy audiotape posted on an Islamic website. In the tape, al-Zawahri answers questions posted online earlier this year by al-Qaeda followers.
Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda's top strategist and second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri photographed in 2001
When asked by one follower if the terror group still has plans to attack Western countries which participated in the Iraq war, al-Zawahri said: "My answer is: Yes!"
Today's tape was the second time that al-Zawahri has answered the more than 900 questions submitted on extremist internet sites by al-Qaeda supporters, critics and journalists in December.
In a first response earlier this month, he rejected the criticism of attacks by al-Qaeda, which have killed thousands, and maintained that the group does not kill innocent people.
Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the September 11th attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York and Washington in 2001, while its affiliates in Iraq, Afghanistan and Algeria regularly set off bombs in crowded urban areas that have taken thousands of lives.
In another answer today, al-Zawahri said it was against Islamic religious law for any Muslim to live permanently in a Western country because in doing so they would "have permanent stay there under the laws of the infidels".
Al-Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab, announced in December that al-Zawahri would take questions from the public posted on Islamic militant websites and would respond "as soon as possible".
Queries were submitted on the main Islamist website until the cut-off date of January 16th. After the deadline, the questions disappeared from the site.
According to the questions, self-proclaimed al-Qaeda supporters appeared to be as much in the dark about the terror network's operations and intentions as Western analysts and intelligence agencies.
They appeared uncertain whether al-Qaeda's central leadership directly controls the multiple, small militant groups around the Middle East which work in its name, or whether those groups operate on their own.
Some asked if al-Qaeda had a long-term strategy, while others wanted advice about conducting Islamic holy war.
AP