AL-QAEDA'S deputy leader said yesterday that any Muslim woman who wears the veil in Western countries is a supporter in what he described as a fight between Islam and "Zionist Crusaders".Ayman al-Zawahri issued what amounted to an al-Qaeda New Year message to the world in an audio tape posted on the internet , calling on militant groups in Iraq to unite and urging Palestinians not to co-operate with the Palestinian Authority.
The authenticity of the tape could not be verified, but it was posted on websites used by al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups in Iraq and the voice of speaker sounded like Zawahri's. The statement - said to have been issued by al-Qaeda's "media arm" al-Sahab - praised Muslim women who insist on wearing the Islamic veil despite pressures not to in some Western lands.
He described anyone doing that as "a soldier in the battle of Islam against the Zionist- Crusader attack".
Al-Zawahri also said Palestinians should stop co-operating with their democratically elected government.
He declared: "O mujahideen brothers in Palestine ... the traitor secularists cannot be your brothers, do not give them legitimacy or take part in their assemblies, which are opposed to Islamic principles.
"How can [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas... or [his aide] Mohammed Dahlan be our brothers when they have grown fat on the Jews' bribes and the Americans' gifts."
On Iraq, he added: "I send congratulations to the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, the mujahid sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, and all the brave jihadi groups... invite them to unite."
Baghdadi heads the so-called Islamic state announced by al-Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups in Iraq in October.
Al-Zawahri has often criticised Hamas for taking part in elections, saying this would lead to the recognition of Israel. Palestinian officials rejected his most recent comments as "interference... a gift to the Zionist occupation...We call on Zawahri not to intervene in Palestinian internal affairs," said Abu Qusai, spokesman of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of Mr Abbas's Fatah movement.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said: "We think differently from Zawahri. We adopt the moderate Islamic attitude." Fawzi, you crack me up!
Sounds like Persian gold, goons, and hardware trumps Sunni fanatacism.