Al Qaeda's Zawahri vows vengeance against U S

DUBAI, June 24 (Reuters) Al Qaeda's second-in-command vowed vengeance against the United States for the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq killed in a U S air strike two weeks ago.

''Yes (George W) Bush, there isn't a single person who'll be killed that we won't get vengeance for, God willing,'' Ayman al-Zawahri said in comments addressed to the U S president on a videotape aired by al Jazeera television yesterday.

''Do you remember, Bush, the mujahid Osama bin Laden's vow that America will not dream of security until we experience it in Palestine?'' Zawahri hailed Zarqawi as a martyr and attacked Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, saying, ''he traded the name of Islam to get to the seat of power''. He also blasted U S Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, calling him an ''Afghan infidel.'' A U S counterterrorism official said there was no reason to doubt the authenticity of the videotape, which he said was the eighth Zawahri had released since January 2006.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he described Zawahri's direct addresses to Bush as ''jihadist bravado''.

''It's part of their ongoing propaganda campaign to appear relevant by commenting on current topics,'' the official said.

In a three-minute Internet video posted on Thursday, Zawahri urged Afghans to fight foreign troops in their country whom he said had a history of denigrating Islam.

Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, named as the new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, has also vowed to avenge the killing of his predecessor.

REUTERS VJ BST0451