Al-Qaida chief talks of US 'failure' in Iraq

Al-Qaida’s number two Ayman al-Zawahri said five years of US occupation of Iraq brought only “failure and defeat” which the Bush administration would pass on as a “problem” to the next American president.

In the audio tape recording, released on a militant website, al-Zawahri says that by acting on the advice of his top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and halting the US troops withdrawal in Iraq for after July, president George Bush was making a “ridiculous show to cover up for the failure” of his policies.

The recording, posted on a website known for militant messaging, is the second this month purportedly by al-Zawahri, considered the terror network’s chief strategist. Its authenticity could not be independently verified.