Al-Qaeda Leader: Wage Holy War Against The United States And Israel

Fox News – “CAIRO – The leader of Al Qaeda is encouraging Muslims to wage holy war against the United States and Israel in response to a film that insulted Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Ayman al-Zawahri, in an audio message released by Al Qaeda’s media arm As-Sahab early Saturday, claimed Washington allowed the film’s production under the pretext of freedom of expression, but added that ‘this freedom did not prevent them from torturing Muslim prisoners.’

The crudely-produced amateur film, ‘Innocence of Muslims,’ which was posted to YouTube and other online forums, was made by an Egyptian-born American citizen. The video sparked violence in the Middle East, including in Egypt and Libya, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others were killed on Sept. 11 during an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Dozens more have also been killed in violence related to the film.

In Saturday’s audio recording, Al-Zawahri praised ‘honest and zealous’ demonstrators who breached the U.S Embassy in Cairo and attackers who stormed the U.S. ’embassy’ in Benghazi.

Separately, officials said this week that Al Qaeda is rebuilding in Iraq and has established training camps for insurgents in the nation’s western deserts as the extremist group seizes on regional instability. Iraq has seen an increase in Al Qaeda attacks over the last 10 weeks, and officials believe most of the fighters are former prisoners who have either escaped from jail or were released by Iraqi authorities for lack of evidence after the U.S. military withdrawal last December. Many are believed to be Saudi or from Sunni-dominated Gulf states.

During the war and its aftermath, U.S. forces, joined by allied Sunni groups and later by Iraqi counterterror forces, managed to beat back Al Qaeda’s Iraqi branch. But now, Iraqi and U.S. officials say, the insurgent group has more than doubled in numbers from a year ago — from about 1,000 to 2,500 fighters. An average of 140 attacks each week across Iraq, up from 75 attacks each week earlier this year, according to Pentagon data.

‘AQI is coming back,’ U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, declared in an interview last month while visiting Baghdad.” Read more.

Flashback: Top Palestinian Islamic Cleric Calls Upon Muslims Worldwide To Unite In Jihad, ‘Strike Terror In The Hearts Of The Enemies’ – “Oh Muslims, unite! Unite! Unite! Unity is the key to your strength… Implement the words of Allah: ‘Prepare for them what force and steeds of war you can, to strike terror in the hearts of the enemies of Allah and your enemies.’ … The one thing that will restore Palestine to you is Jihad, Jihad, and more Jihad. Any nation that forsook Jihad was humiliated by Allah.'” Watch video.

Flashback: Obama Admin: The War On Terror Is ‘Over’ – “… a senior State Department official has announced, ‘The war on terror is over.’ ‘Now that we have killed most of al Qaida … people have come to see legitimate means of expression, people who once might have gone into al Qaida see an opportunity for a legitimate Islamism.’ The article itself describes the Obama administration’s new vision of foreign policy, which admits no enemies. Everyone, in this view, is a friend. Islamism, says the Obama administration, is just fine, so long as it does not openly support terrorism. This, of course, is utter foolishness… Islamism works hand-in-glove with terror groups around the world.” Read more.