CAIRO, 30 November 2004 — In a videotape aired yesterday, Osama Bin Laden’s top lieutenant, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, vowed to continue fighting the United States until Washington changes its policies.
In the brief excerpt aired on Al-Jazeera television, Zawahiri spoke of the recent US presidential elections, but it was unclear from his words whether the footage was taped before or after the Nov. 2 elections, when US President George W. Bush won re-election over Democrat John Kerry.
“The results of the elections do not matter for us,” Zawahiri said in the excerpt, which lasted about three minutes. “Vote whoever you want, Bush, Kerry or the devil himself. This does not concern us. What concerns us is to purge our land from the aggressors.”
It was unclear if Al-Jazeera planned to show more of the tape later.
Zawahiri also said the United States is trying to coerce the Muslim world through force, to satisfy Israel and to achieve the US’s own interests.
And he said the fall of Baghdad was only a prelude to what the whole Muslim world might be subjected to by the United States.
He also addressed the American people, urging them to deal with Muslims “with respect and exchange and based on an exchange of mutual interests.”
He advised the Americans to choose between one of two things: “Either you choose to treat us with respect and based on an exchange of interests ... or we will continue to fight you until you change your policies.”
The bearded and bespectacled Zawahiri sat before a white background, half-covered with a blanket. His voice sounded calm and steady, as in previous tapes.
Days before the US election, Bin Laden said in video footage that the United States must stop threatening the security of Muslims if it wants to avoid “another Manhattan.”
