Al-Qaeda leader urges Muslim world to support Syrian uprising

February 12, 2012

Phoebe Greenwood – Telegraph.co.uk February 12, 2012

An earlier photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri. Note the motif on the backdrop

Ayman al-Zawahri, global head of al-Qaeda since the death of Osama bin Laden last May, issued the call to arms in an eight-minute video posted on an Islamic website on Sunday entitled “Onwards, Lions of Syria“.

Dressed entirely in white, with an assault rifle displayed by his side, Egyptian born al-Zawahri urged Muslim states including Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to come to the aid of Syrian protesters and urged Syrian protesters not to ally themselves with the Western powers, including the US and the United Nations, or the Arab League.

“Our people in Syria, don’t rely on the West or the United States or Arab governments and Turkey,” Mr Zawahri said.”You know better what they are planning against you. Our people in Syria don’t depend on the Arab League and its corrupt governments supporting it.”

The Arab League is expected to meet next week to discuss forming a joint UN-Arab mission to send to Syria following the recent failure of a team of UN monitors to quell the civil violence, now entering its eleventh month.

In Homs, activists say hundreds have been killed in a week of intense, renewed shelling by government forces.

“Wounded Syria still bleeds day after day, while the butcher, son of the butcher Bashar bin Hafiz (Hafez al-Assad), is not deterred to stop.

“But the resistance of our people in Syria despite all the pain, sacrifice and bloodshed escalates and grows,” Mr Zawahri said, in his second video message to the Syrian people.

In June, the terrorist leader dismissed US support for Syria’s pro-democracy activists as insincere and asked protesters to extend their opposition to Washington and Israel.

US officials claim the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda is responsible for two recent explosions in the Syrian capital Damascus and was almost certainly behind last Friday’s suicide blast in Aleppo, which killed 28 people. US intelligence reports suggest the bombings were carried out on the orders of Mr Zawahri, who they suspect is attempting to hijack the violent events in Syria and reassert al-Qaeda’s presence in the region.

Comment – February 12, 2012

As anyone who doesn’t take things at face value knows, there have long been doubts about al-Qaeda’s authenticity. There are indeed good reasons to believe that this so-called “terrorist organsiation” is in fact the creation of Western intelligence.

After all bin Laden is on record as having served U.S. interests during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

There are likewise similar reasons to doubt Ayman al-Zawahri’s authenticity as a genuine “terrorist” leader. From the fact that he’s made statements standing in front of curtain emblazoned with a Star of David motif (above, click to enlarge), to Donald Rumsfeld having helped the organisation establish itself in North West Pakistan, there is every reason to believe that al-Qaeda is itself a creation of Western Intelligence.

As the links below illustrate al-Qaeda has been used in the past to further western interests. All of which raise serious questions about who is really behind the ongoing unrest in Syria.

Is the current violence in Syria the result of genuine dissent among ordinary Syrians? Or is it, as we suspect, being fuelled and fomented by Western Intelligence in an effort to overthrow one of Iran’s key regional allies?