Qaeda's Zawahri threatens more attacks on West

DUBAI, Dec 20 (Reuters) Al Qaeda will continue to target the United States and other Western countries so long as Muslims are under attack, the militant group's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video tape aired today.

''If we are attacked in our land we shall not stop attacking you in your countries, God willing,'' Zawahri said in the tape aired by Al Jazeera television.

''The formula for your safety is: You will not dream of security until we live it as a reality in Palestine and all Muslim countries,'' he said.

Al Qaeda, which carried out the September 11 attacks on US cities, has repeatedly vowed more strikes on the United States.

Zawahri last threatened attacks in a videotape in June to avenge the killing of the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.

''Our initial scrub is that this is just a broad list of historical grievances against a range of folks, with no specific threats,'' said a US intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''I'm sure it was timed for the holidays, which is when people get nervous about threats.'' In the tape, Zawahri dismissed US President George W Bush's argument that combating terrorism can guarantee security and said Washington was scrambling for an exit from Iraq and Afghanistan, but was approaching the wrong parties.

He appeared to be calling on Washington to open a dialogue with insurgency leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan.

''Both Democrats and Republicans are scrambling to find an exit from the disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq and are still thinking with the same rash mentality and trying to negotiate with some sides to secure your exit but these sides cannot offer you an escape and your attempts will only bring more failure.

''You are not negotiating with the real powers in the Muslim world and you appear to be heading towards a painful round of negotiations, after which you will forced to talks to the real forces...'' he said.

Facing pressure to shift course in the unpopular Iraq war, Bush is weighing the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which called for pulling back US combat troops by early 2008 and engaging Iran and Syria directly over Iraq.

Zawahri urged Sunni fighters to join the so-called Islamic State in Iraq, announced by an al Qaeda-led group in October.

''I urge the whole Muslim nation to support this fledgling state as it is, God willing, the gateway for the liberation of Palestine and the revival of the Islamic caliphate.

''I also urge all my mujahideen brothers in Iraq to join this blessed convoy to save the Iraq caliphate from the shackles of the crusaders and their agents, the traitors who have sold their faith,'' the Egyptian militant said.

Zawahri took a swing at Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim leaders who he said opposed jihad against US-led forces in Iraq while they saw Lebanese Shi'ite guerrilla group Hezbollah's war with Israel this summer as sanctioned by Islam.

Reuters SY GC2156