DUBAI: Al-Qaeda s second-in-command, Ayman Al-Zawahri slammed US President Barack Obama s Middle East policy, saying it is designed to humiliate Muslims, in an Internet audio message posted on Monday.
Obama s policy is nothing but a new stage in the Crusader and Zionist campaign that is aimed at subjucating and humiliating us, occupying our land, robbing our riches and fighting our religion, he said in the statement posted on an Islamist website.
Al-Zawahri also slammed Arab leaders, naming in particular Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as well as Saudi King Abdullah and Jordan s monarch Abdullah II.
Those are the Arab Zionists… (who) implement the orders of Obama who has demonstrated to the Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere his real plan to support Israel, under the guise of appealing for respect, understanding, and cooperation, he said.
Al-Zawahri surfaced last on Dec. 1 in a similar audio message in which he paid homage to three Indonesians who were executed on Nov. 9 over their involvement in the Bali attacks in 2002, which killed 202 people.
Obama s high-profile push to restart Middle East negotiations has so far fallen flat, damaging his broader aim to improve ties with the Arab and Muslim world. -AFP
