Al Qaeda's Zawahri rejects Palestinian referendum

DUBAI, June 9 (Reuters) Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri urged Palestinians to reject a referendum on a statehood proposal that implicitly recognises Israel, in a video aired on Al Jazeera television today.

''I call on them (Muslims) to refuse any Palestinian referendum,'' said Zawahri.

Zawahri also blasted the Sudanese government, which is poised to hold talks with the United Nations and the African Union. The two bodies are trying to convince Khartoum to accept UN peacekeepers in the troubled Darfur region.

''In Sudan, the crusader (UN) Security Council decided to send military experts to Darfur in preparation for its occupation and division,'' he said.

''The spineless Sudanese government ... is joining the United States in dividing Sudan to stay in power,'' he added.

The video was made before the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq was killed on Wednesday, as Zawahri hailed Abu Musab al Zarqawi, without mentioning his death.

In April, Zawahri said hundreds of suicide bombers had ''broken America's back'' in three years of war in Iraq.

REUTERS SHR ND1848