Al Qaeda not to ‘stand by and watch’, says Zawahri
DUBAI, July 27: Ayman Al Zawahri, deputy leader of Al Qaeda organisation, said his group would not “stand by and watch” Israel bombard Lebanon and Palestinians, calling on Muslims in a video aired on Thursday to fight those “who support the attacks”.
Zawahri, in a tape aired by Al Jazeera television, linked the fighting in the Middle East to conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, where its militants are targetting Western forces.
“How can we remain silent while watching bombs raining on our people,” he asked. “O Muslims everywhere, I call on you to fight and become martyrs in the war against Zionists and Crusaders,” Zawahri said in the statement which was entitled ‘The Zionist-Crusader war on Lebanon and Palestinians’.
Zawahri also lambasted “impotent (and) treacherous” Arab governments for their feeble response to Israeli attacks.
It was the first comment by Al Qaeda against Israel’s war on Lebanon .—Reuters
