Zawahiri... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as
the real brains of the outfit.Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodx al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...
has called on the armed Syrian opposition to wage guerrilla warfare against the government of Bashir al-Assad and its allies.
In an audio tape titled "Syria will only bow to God", released on the internet on Sunday, Zawahiri urged Syrian rebels to "have patience and prepare themselves for a long war against the Crusaders and their Shia allies".
He urged them to adopt a "guerilla warfare" strategy because it would "weaken and drain the enemy".
The rebels' enemies "are targeting them because they are trying to establish an Islamic rule in Syria, as the West and its allies were doing everything they can to stop it".