Al Qaeda No. 2: Attacks on Western nations in works

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Al Qaeda still has plans to target Western countries involved in the Iraq war, Osama bin Laden’s chief deputy warns in an audiotape released Tuesday to answer questions posed by followers.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, seen in 2006, said in a recent tape that Iran and Hezbollah sought to discredit al Qaeda.

The voice in the lengthy file posted on an Islamic Web site could not be immediately confirmed as al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri’s. But it sounded like past audiotapes from the terror leader, and the posting bore the logo of As-Sahab, al Qaeda’s official media arm.

The two-hour message is billed as the second installment of al-Zawahiri’s answers to more than 900 questions submitted on extremist Internet sites by al Qaeda supporters, critics and journalists in December.

Responding to a question of whether the terror group had plans to attack Western countries that participated in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the subsequent war, al-Zawahiri said, “My answer is, yes. We think that any country that joined aggression on Muslims must be deterred.”

Al Qaeda No. 2: Attacks on Western nations in works

Comment: Rather nice of him to go ahead and announce it, don’t you think?