Al-Qaida deputy says Bin Laden is still alive

Al-Qaida’s leader Osama bin Laden is alive and well and leading the holy war against the West, the terror group’s second-in-command said in a videotape broadcast on the internet today.

The tape by Ayman al-Zawahri, which was carried by the pan-Arab television channel Al-Jazeera, appeared to be an attempt to refute rumours that bin Laden was killed or wounded in the October earthquake in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 79,000 people.

“Thanks be to God, (al-Qaida’s) prince, Sheikh Osama bin Laden, is still, God protect him, leading the holy war,” al-Zawahri said in the videotape.

In the tape, which was posted on an Islamic website known for carrying statements from extremist groups, al-Zawahri called on Iraqi insurgent groups to unite.

Iraqi Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen, “whose hands were not tainted by Americans,” should come together to fill “the gap that will be left by the Americans departure” from Iraq, he said.

“I call all mujahedeen groups to unite and work closely to achieve the coming victory” in Iraq, said al-Zawahri who, wearing a black turban and white robe, was taped speaking to an off-camera interviewer.

Al-Zawahri said the coming al-Qaida victory in Iraq “will have a great effect on the future of the Islamic nation, and this is the most dangerous area in the world”.

“The lies that Bush is trying to use to deceive the American that he has wiped out half of al-Qaida or three quarters of al-Qaida are lies that only exist in his head,” al-Zawahri said. “We tell all the Muslims and mujahedeen that al-Qaida, God willing, is spreading and increasing and becoming more powerful.”

Al-Zawahri said US-led forces were suffering daily attacks in Afghanistan and if it weren’t for the “continuing support provided by the Pakistani army,” the Americans would have long since left.

“As for Iraq, what have they achieved there, other than losses and defeats - a government which they set up through farcical elections with half the population and fake voters crossing the borders in droves,” he said.

He said Iraq was a country with an army and police “taking the burden of confronting the resistance for the Americans” with an “independent state in the north infiltrated by Jewish intelligence,” a reference to the Kurdish-run region in the north.

The interviewer asked al-Zawahri for his assessment of al-Qaida.

“Al-Qaida is expanding, flourishing and gaining strength, thanks be to God. It has turned into a popular pioneer organisation,” al-Zawahri replied.