Al-Zawahri urges attacks on US, Jewish interests
Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in an audiotape released yesterday, called on Muslims to strike Jewish and American targets in revenge for Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this month.
The al-Zawahri tape came on the heels of a message from Osama bin Laden, who called for a holy war to liberate the Palestinian territories. Together, the two messages appeared to be a more direct push by the terror network's leadership to use widespread anger over the Gaza violence to whip up support.
Bin Laden and al-Zawahri have frequently referred to the Palestinian cause in their past messages, but usually in broader terms of liberating Jerusalem and denouncing Israeli violence. Their latest calls for attacks, however, had a more immediate and urgent tone.
