Around the World: Egypt

9/11 conspiracy denied

Osama bin Laden's chief deputy in an audiotape yesterday denied a conspiracy theory that Israel carried out the Sept 11 attacks and blamed Iran and Shi'ite Hezbollah for spreading the idea in order to discredit the Sunni Al-Qaida's achievement of striking the United States.

The comments reflected the increasing criticism by Al-Qaida's No 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri against Iran, which al-Zawahri has accused in recent messages of seeking to extend its power in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and through its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.