DUBAI, Sept 28: Arabic satellite television broadcast on Sunday an audio tape purporting to come from Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in which he urged Pakistanis to overthrow President Pervez Musharraf for “betraying” Islam.

The speaker on the tape, which was aired by Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya channels, also urged Muslims around the world to fight what Zawahri called the Christian-Zionist crusade “aimed at eradicating Islam and Muslims”.

It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the tape, the latest in a series of audio and video tapes released to the media since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States for which Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda is widely blamed.

The voice on the tape blasted the President Musharraf for aiding the United States in its war in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and accused him of planning to send Muslim troops to Iraq “to be killed instead of American soldiers”.

“Muslims in Pakistan must unite to oust this ‘traitor’ and put in place a loyal leadership in Pakistan which defends Islam and Muslims,” the speaker said.

Pakistani security forces have cooperated closely with US forces to hunt for Osama’s and other Al Qaeda members in border areas where many believe they are hiding.

Zawahri, Osama’s right-hand man, appeared with him in a videotape released earlier this month to mark the Sept 11 attacks. The two men urged fighters to turn Iraq into a graveyard for US troops.—Reuters