Quote:The second-in-command of Islamic militant network al-Qaeda has called on Muslims to harm "criminal" America.

In a message purportedly from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda deputy accused US President-elect Barack Obama of betraying his Muslim roots.

He likened him to a "house slave" - who had chosen to align himself with the "enemies" of Islam.

Mr Obama has said stamping out al-Qaeda "once and for all" will be a top priority during his administration.

On Sunday, he said capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden was "critical" to US security.

He has also promised to bolster the US presence in Afghanistan - a policy that would fail, said the al-Qaeda deputy.

The US said the message did not signal any increased threat against America.

'Trespassing crusader'

Zawahiri, an Egyptian by birth, is often referred to as Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man and the chief ideologue of al-Qaeda.

The audio message, which ran with photographic stills and some video footage, appeared on militant websites.

Mr Obama's election did not mean that US policy towards the Muslim world had changed, Ayman al-Zawahiri said, according to the 11-minute message.

He warned Mr Obama of failure if he followed the policies of the George W Bush Bush administration.

The change of leadership in the US did not mean that America should be perceived differently, he added.

"America, the criminal, trespassing crusader, continues to be the same as ever, so we must continue to harm it in order for it to come to its senses," he said.

Zawahiri also criticised Mr Obama - whose father is Muslim - for betraying the Islamic world.

"You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America," he said.

Mr Obama was not an "honourable black American" like Malcolm X, he said, but an "abeed al-beit" - a word that translates as house slave but was rendered "house negro" in the message's English subtitles.

The audio was accompanied by footage of a speech by Malcolm X in which he distinguished between "field negroes" who hated their white masters and "house negroes" who, he said, were loyal to them.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack described the message as "more despicable comments from a terrorist".

Mr Obama visited Israel in July and expressed his "abiding commitment" to its security.

On Sunday, in his first television interview since his 4 November election win, he reiterated his commitment to shift more US troops to bolster the military presence in Afghanistan.

The last message purporting to be from Zawahiri emerged on 8 September. He is thought to be in hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border area.

Quote:He's trying to close Guantanamo fool, keep releasing those diss tapes and you'll find yourself sucking dick strapped to a boogie board! Shut the fuck up!! There's a reason why you're number two, you're full of shit doggie!

Quote:Was this the same al-Zawahiri that has been captured 4 times and killed once?

Fucking bullshit propaganda. Gee, I wonder why the media doesn't mention that?

Quote:Is it me or is this blatant propaganda aimed at the black poplulation of the country?

Trying to make it seem as if they're racists or something...
Case in point:
I post at a hip hop site, someone made a thread about this titled:

Al-Qaida's Number Two Calls Obama a House Nigga!

and his very informative[/sarcasm] post concluded with:

Quote:He's trying to close Guantanamo fool, keep releasing those diss tapes and you'll find yourself sucking dick strapped to a boogie board! Shut the fuck up!! There's a reason why you're number two, you're full of shit doggie!

Dear God....help us...

Quote:I don't think they ever claimed to catch or kill this dude. This is the Egyptian who has been linked to MI-6 and denounced conspiracy theories about 9-11.

Quote:(CBS) Ayman al-Zawahiri - the second most powerful leader in al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden's No. 2 - may be critically wounded and possibly dead, CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan reports exclusively.

CBS News has obtained a copy of an intercepted letter from sources in Pakistan, which urgently requests a doctor to treat al-Zawahiri. He's believed to be somewhere in Pakistan's remote tribal areas of Pakistan.

The letter refers to Sheikh Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri by name - and says that he is in "severe pain" and his "injuries are infected."

[Following the broadcast of this report, Taliban officials denied that al-Zawahiri was injured or killed in any missile attack.]

The letter is reportedly written by local Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, whose signature and seal are visible on the letter.

The Taliban logo and the Mehsud's seal have been confirmed by experts as legitimate.

The letter is dated July 29 - one day after a U.S. air strike that killed al Qaeda weapons expert Abu Khabab al-Masri, and five other Arabs in South Waziristan.

U.S. authorities have said they do not have information that al-Zawahiri was present during Monday's strike, or that he was injured.

However, a counter-intelligence expert and other U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News that the U.S. is looking into reports that al-Zawahiri is dead.

Logan reports that while there have been false death rumors regarding al-Zawahiri before, there have been no denials yet from Pakistan, the U.S. or al Qaeda Web sites.

Quote:Osama bin Laden's most senior lieutenant, the Egyptian militant Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been captured and jailed in Tehran, a leading Iranian newspaper reported yesterday.

Zawahiri, the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, was arrested several days ago and has been imprisoned in the city's Evin jail, where political prisoners are usually held, the Hayat-e-Nou newspaper said.

If the report is correct, the arrest is the most serious strike at the heart of Bin Laden's al-Qaida network since the World Trade Centre attacks, and a diplomatic coup for Tehran.

The FBI has Zawahiri on its most-wanted list in connection with the August 1998 bombings of two US embassies in east Africa in which 224 people were killed. It has offered a $25m reward for information leading to his capture.

The Farsi-language paper gave few details yesterday about the arrest and no indication of the source of its information. The paper is regarded as reliable and is run by Hadi Khamenei, a leading legislator and the brother of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But Iran's foreign ministry said last night. "The news that has been published in the Hayat-e-Nou newspaper is not true. We deny it," Hamid Reza Asefi, a foreign ministry spokesman, said.

In Kabul the interim government said many al-Qaida and Taliban fighters had crossed into Iran but it had no information on Zawahiri. "We are not aware that a person of al-Zawahiri's stature has been arrested," foreign ministry spokesman Omar Samad said.

Zawahiri, 50, who wears thick spectacles and a long, dark beard, is regarded as Bin Laden's closest ally. He has been living with him in Afghanistan for several years and often served as his personal doctor. In an interview in June last year, Bin Laden said he had merged Zawahiri's Islamic Jihad with al-Qaida.

In December, Afghan commanders involved in the attacks on Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan said they believed Zawahiri had recently been at the camp. His wife and three daughters were later reported to have died in a US bombing raid, although it was thought Zawahiri was not with them at the time.

Washington has criticised Tehran for allowing al-Qaida and Taliban fighters to slip across its border and Iran was named by George Bush as one of three "axis of evil" countries.