Zawahri threatens Britons with more disasters

Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahri warned in a videotape broadcast by al- Jazeera satellite TV on Thursday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's policies will bring more disasters to Britons.

"Blair has brought to you destruction in central London, and he will bring more of that, God willing," al-Zawahri said in the tape.

He was referring to the deadly attacks on three London Subway trains and a bus on July 7 which killed 56 people.

Zawahri also warned other Western countries that they could also come under attacks for sending forces to Iraq.

"As to the nations of the crusader alliance, we have offered you a truce if you leave the land of Islam," he said.

"Our message is clear: you will not be safe until you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil and wealth and stop supporting the corrupt rulers," he added.

Wearing a white robe and a black turban, al-Zawahri warned the United States that it could expect greater casualties from its military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"As for you, the Americans, what you have seen in New York, Washington and Afghanistan are only the initial losses," he said.

"If you carry on the same aggressive policies you will see what will make you forget those horrors.

"The truth that has been hidden from you by (US President George W.) Bush, (Secretary of State Condoleezza) Rice and (Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld is that there is no way out from Iraq except for an immediate withdrawal.

"It you don't leave today, you will certainly leave tomorrow, after suffering casualties of tens of thousands of dead and many more injured," he continued.

Al-Zawahri, a former Egyptian doctor, had been involved in a wave of attacks that rocked Egypt in the 1990s before he merged his Jihad group with bin Laden's al-Qaida in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

His previous appearance on a videotape aired by al-Jazeera was on June 17, when he spurned the US plan of reform in the Middle East, saying jihad (holy war) was the only way to bring about change in the Arab world.

Source: Xinhua