On December 16, 2007, the Islamist website http://www.ek-ls.org, which is hosted by NOC4HOSTS Inc., in Tampa, FL, USA, posted a video of an interview with Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri. The 100-minute interview, which aired during the month of Dhu Al-Qa’da, 1428 (November 11-December 10, 2007) and which was produced by Al-Qaeda’s media company Al-Sahab, was subtitled in English, and included film footage to emphasize Al-Zawahiri’s statements. Most of the interview focused on Iran and on the current situation in the Iraqi jihad.
On December 14, 2007, the Islamist website Al-Hesbah, which is also hosted by NOC4Hosts Inc. in Tampa, FL, posted the audio of an address by Al-Zawahiri titled “The Treason… of Annapolis.” In the recording, which was also produced by Al-Sahab, Al-Zawahiri rebukes Hamas for attempting to renew the political dialogue with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud ‘Abbas despite ‘Abbas’ participation in the Annapolis conference, which Hamas had criticized. Al-Zawahiri then called on Hamas to reject any political negotiation over the future of Palestine, and to declare its commitment to waging jihad until all Islamic lands – from Chechnya to Andalusia (Spain) – are liberated and subjugated to Islamic rule and until the Caliphate is restored.
Also in the recording, Al-Zawahiri criticized imprisoned jihadist sheikhs [1] who had renounced jihad against the West and against Arab regimes, and denounced them for their condemnation of mujahideen such as Osama bin Laden. Finally, he urged Muslims in general and the Egyptians in particular to prevent Egypt from becoming “a support base for the Crusader campaign against the Muslims.”
December 17, 2007 Video: “Iran Stabbed a Knife into the Back of the Islamic Nation”
Al-Zawahiri dismissed the possibility of Iran-Al-Qaeda cooperation against their common enemy, the U.S. He said that in the past, the emphasis had been on jointly fighting the Zionists-Crusader alliance against the Muslim ummah, but that Iran had surprised Al-Qaeda by collaborating with the U.S. in its invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and had even come to an agreement with the Americans before they entered Iraq, over the division of that country.
He added that likewise, the Shi’ite militias that were trained, funded, and armed by Iran throughout the years had been integrated into the Iraqi security apparatuses, and had become, and still remained, the talons of the Crusader occupier in his war against the Muslims in Iraq.
Al-Zawahiri said that although Iran repeated and reiterated slogans of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” not a single fatwa had been issued by any Shi’ite authority, either in Iran or outside it, calling for jihad against the Americans in Iraq and in Afghanistan. He said that moreover, [Iranian Expediency Council chairman and No. 2 man in the Iranian regime] Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had expressed respect for the wishes of the Iraqis who were collaborating with Iran that the American forces will remain in Iraq.
Al-Zawahiri also accused Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah of not representing the obligation to personal jihad for liberating the Muslim lands, but rather for representing a narrow, fanatical nationalist perception that is unknown to Islam.
He also dismissed the possibility that Al-Qaeda would aid Iran in the event of a U.S. attack on it, saying, “Iran has stabbed a knife into the back of the Islamic nation, and the traces of this stabbing will remain in the Muslim memory for a long time to come.” He wondered how Iran could collaborate with the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan and at the same time threaten the U.S. with an extremely harsh reaction if it were to attack it, asking, “Do they [the Iranians] think that Tehran is more important than Karbala and Najaf?” because they did not lift a finger “when the American cannon struck the tomb of the imam [holy to Shi’ites] at Najaf.”
The Jihad Fighters’ Strength is on the Rise, While the Americans are Weakening – Their Exit from Iraq is Only a Matter of Time
Al-Zawahiri called “the rise of the avant-garde of the mujahideen of the Islamic nation,” the most important development in the Islamic world, saying that it had “become a fact in the world as a result of the growing Islamic awakening” across the Muslim world. He said that Iraq was the most important jihad front today, and that the jihad fighters’ strength was on the rise while the Americans were weakening, and added that their exit from Iraq was only a matter of time – and proof of this is was U.K.’s decision to flee.
Al-Zawahiri called on the jihad fighters to fight the Iraqi government and security apparatuses, which he termed murtadoun (i.e. those who renounce their religion). With regard to the Iraqi tribes’ collaboration with the Americans, he stated that these tribes were mere riffraff that the Americans had bought and paid for in order to sow civil war among the Muslims, and stressed that the honorable tribes supported jihad and that many of their sons were fighting in its ranks. He called on the tribes to purge themselves of this riffraff, and threatened that their day would come; the Americans would soon leave and would not be able to protect them forever.
Al-Zawahiri noted that there was now nothing called Al-Qaeda in Iraq, since the Al-Qaeda organization in Iraq would be merging with the other jihad groups in the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which has become a shari’a Imara (a shari’a-based Imara, i.e. under an Amir) and had received a vow of allegiance from most of the jihad fighters and tribes in Iraq. He rejected accusations that the ISI was killing innocent people, and claimed that in any case, when Muslims fought with the enemy against jihad fighters it was a very grave crime.
Al-Zawahiri accused the global media of manipulating Osama bin Laden’s most recent recording, by omitting its most important parts and by misinterpreting bin Laden’s statements. Al-Zawahiri said that bin Laden’s criticism was not directed against the ISI alone, but against all jihad fighters in Iraq, and that the jihad had shattered the monopoly held by the government and media that pretended to be independent, such as the BBC, and that the jihad was today directing “the most important media battle against the Crusader-Zionist enemy” and exposing the world to facts to which it had not previously been exposed. He added that the jihad had triumphed in this ideological battle just as it had triumphed in the battle over the Internet websites.
December 14, 2007 Audio: “The Goal of the Annapolis Conference… Was to Make Palestine Jewish”
“The goal of the Annapolis conference… was to make Palestine Jewish. The Crusader emperor of Washington managed to get 16 Arab states to participate in the opening [session] of the conference… [thus setting them up] as false witnesses to his new deal… for selling Palestine… In order to complete the Crusader deception, America prepared [a document] setting out in detail the understandings reached at the Annapolis conference, which is to be submitted the [U.N.] Security Council [as a draft motion]. [The goal is] to obtain a Security Council resolution which will be imposed on the Islamic ummah in Palestine…
“I am amazed… at the [Hamas] politicians who surrendered four-fifths of Palestine and authorized Mahmoud ‘Abbas to negotiate on the Palestinians’ behalf in the palaces of Mecca, but who then [began to] complain… and to denounce the [Annapolis] conference, after they saw with their own eyes the catastrophe into which ‘brother’ Mahmoud ‘Abbas had led them.”
“Declare… That You Strive to Establish the Caliphate”
“[Surprisingly,] having condemned the [Annapolis] conference, [Hamas is still referring to] Mahmoud ‘Abbas as ‘brother President,’ still urging [him] to [resume] talks [with the Hamas leadership], and still continuing to recognize his legitimacy. [Hamas,] you should return to your pure doctrine, which rejected [all] concessions, political maneuvers, and diplomatic deceptions that bring [only] destruction upon [Islam] and the world. I call upon you to declare, in the clearest possible manner, that you… aspire to implement shari’a, that you reject the rule of the masses and any other rule except that of the Koran and the Sunna, that you strive to establish the Caliphate, that you will fight until the word of Allah [reigns] supreme… that you aspire to liberate every inch of Islamic land from Andalusia to Chechnya, and that you will join efforts with the rest of the mujahideen… [in the struggle against] the Crusader-Zionist enemy…”
Renounce Any International Agreement to Sell Palestine
“I call upon you to renounce the Mecca Accord, and any [other] international agreement which [is designed] to sell Palestine. [Declare] that you reject and renounce every [decision] which was prescribed by… the [U.N. in an attempt to] annihilate Palestine and make it Jewish. I call upon you to announce that you are no longer a national resistance movement, but an Islamic jihad movement which transcends national solidarity and believes in brotherhood rooted in Islam… I call upon you to extend your hand in friendship… to all the Muslim mujahideen… [and to declare] that the mujahideen everywhere are closer to you, and more loyal and faithful [in your eyes], than Mahmoud ‘Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan…”
“Is [Annapolis Not] One of Those Deals [Designed] to Destroy Palestine?”
“As for those [imprisoned jihadi sheikhs] who have renounced [their jihadi views]… recognized [Egyptian President] Hosni Mubarak as a [legitimate] guardian of Muslim affairs… denounced the [9/11] attacks against the U.S., and expressed amazement at the Taliban’s refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden… I say to [them]: ‘What do you say about Annapolis? Is it [not] one of the deals [designed] to destroy Palestine – [dreamt up] by your ruler [Mubarak], and by his son [Gamal Mubarak], the new star rising in the sky of submission to the Americans? Is it [not merely another] step in the Crusader-Zionist plan to control the Muslim countries, and one more successful [step] on the road that your ‘martyr’ Sadat began?'”
“How Did You Allow Egypt to Become a Support Base for the Crusader Campaign Against the Muslims?”
“I say to the Islamic ummah in Egypt: What is your role in resisting the aggression against Islam and the Muslims? How did you allow Egypt to become a support base for the Crusader campaign against the Muslims…? Resist the Jewish and Crusader campaign, and beware the poison of weakness and submissiveness that the collaborating regimes are attempting to spread among you. [They are doing this] by means of the statements by those [imprisoned sheikhs] who renounced [their jihadi views] and capitulated [to the demands of the West]… calling upon us to unite behind Hosni Mubarak in order to ‘oppose’ Israel.
“I ask [those sheikhs]: ‘Where should we unite behind Mubarak – in Oslo, in Sharm Al-Sheikh, or in Annapolis? And on what should we agree with him – about training thousands of Palestinian Authority policemen in order to defeat the Hamas government? About the truckloads of weapons that he is providing to Mahmoud ‘Abbas and Muhammad Dahlan?'”
Waste Of My Oxygen 