Bin Laden Aide Video Is Aired
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CAIRO — Al Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman Zawahiri, called on Muslims to step up their resistance against the United States in a video aired by CNN early today on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The footage appeared to be recent, as Zawahiri refers to Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon this summer and the capture of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants from Lebanon and Hamas-linked militants from the Gaza Strip.
“Your leaders are hiding from you the true extent of the disaster,” Zawahiri says in the video. “And the days are pregnant and giving birth to new events, with God’s permission and guidance.”
The video could not be located by the Associated Press on any militant websites that normally carry messages and videos from Zawahiri and other Al Qaeda figures. Al Sahab, the terrorist network’s media arm, posted notices late Sunday that the video would be available shortly.
It was unclear where CNN got the tape.
The network quoted a counter-terrorism expert as saying the video had appeared on the website for Al Sahab, but the production company normally uses other Islamic websites to post its material.
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