Al Qaeda's Deputy Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri Issues New Video Message
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Al Qaeda's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri has issued a new video message praising the terrorist organization's slain commander in Afghanistan, the IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors militant messages, said Wednesday.
The nine minute, 59 seconds-long tape, entitled "An Elegy to the Martyred Commander Abu Laith al-Libi," was issued by al-Sahab, the organization's media branch. The video has English subtitles, IntelCenter said. It's authenticity could not be immediately verified.
Al-Libi is believed to have been killed by a missile from a U.S. Predator drone that struck his safehouse in Pakistan in late January. He was viewed as a top Al Qaeda strategist in neighboring Afghanistan.
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Pakistani intelligence described him as the operational commander of Al Qaeda in the border region and one of the militant group's most high-profile figures after its leader, Usama bin Laden, and his deputy al-Zawahiri.
The video released Wednesday was posted on a web site that usually releases Al Qaeda messages. The site also displayed a banner advertising an upcoming "interview" of al-Zawahiri by al-Sahab, with a picture of him in a white traditional Arab robe and white turban, seated before a bookshelf. Such advertisements are usually posted up to 72 hours before the message is released.
Al-Zawahiri — seen by many counterterrorism experts to be Al Qaeda's operational chief, rather than bin Laden — is believed to play a large role in directing Al Qaeda's strategy on the ground and issues frequent videos an audiotapes, often laying out the network's doctrinal line.
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The message released Wednesday was the first tape or video issued by al-Zawahiri this year. He issued 15 in 2007.