Al Qaeda tape ‘authentic’
The CIA has announced that the audio tape purportedly from al Qaeda, which urges Pakistani Muslims to overthrow their government, is likely to be genuine.
The tape was said to be from Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command, and was broadcast by the Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel.
A CIA official confirmed that the voice “is likely that of Ayman al-Zawahri”, but that they could not be sure as to when it was recorded.
The voice on the tape slammed Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf as a “traitor” and called for an insurrection by the country’s military.
“Musharraf seeks to stab the Islamic resistance in Afghanistan in the back,” the speaker said.
“Every Muslim in Pakistan should work hard to get rid of this agent government, which will continue to submit to America until it destroys Pakistan.
“I call on the Pakistani army – you, poor army, what a miserable state Musharraf has put you in, Musharraf ruins your natural fences – those tribes on the border – by engaging you in a fight with them. Then he removes your nuclear weapons. Will you stay silent until Pakistan is divided again?”
Pakistani soldiers have been collaborating with US troops in Afghanistan over the last two weeks to weed out al Qaeda militants on the Afghan border in South Waziristan.
Last week, Pakistani officials suggested a “high-value target” – possibly al-Zawahri himself – could be hiding in the remote mountainous area.
The Bush administration believes the 52-year-old Egyptian doctor was the “brains” behind the September 11th 2001 atrocities in New York, which killed over 3,000 people.
