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| Saturday, 27 March 2004 |
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Tape said to be of Qaeda No 2 urges Pakistan coup DUBAI, Friday (Reuters) A defiant message apparently from Osama bin Laden's right-hand man called on Pakistanis to overthrow their pro-American president - just days after Pakistan hinted its forces had the fugitive trapped. In a new tape aired on Arabic Al Jazeera television and attributed to Ayman al-Zawahri, the al Qaeda number two - believed hiding on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border - called President Pervez Musharraf "the traitor". "I call on Muslims in Pakistan to get rid of their government which is working for Americans," said the voice on the audio-only tape, which sounded like Zawahri. Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the "war on terror", has been waging a bloody campaign over the last fortnight to root out al Qaeda fighters in tandem with a U.S. sweep on the other side of the Afghan frontier. Pakistani officials said last week the fierce defence the militants were putting up suggested they were protecting a "high-value target", perhaps Zawahri, who Washington believes played a key role in the September 11, 2001, attacks. The military later rowed back, saying this was unfounded "guesswork" and the target might be a Chechen or Uzbek warlord. "Musharraf wants to stab the Muslim Jihad (holy struggle) uprising in Afghanistan in the back," the voice said. "The Pakistani people had offered a helping hand to their brothers in Afghanistan, that's why Americans delegated Musharraf to take revenge on the tribes along the border, especially the Pashtun." Al Jazeera, which often receives tapes purportedly from bin Laden and Zawahri, said it got the new message after Pakistan began its frontier military campaign but gave no more details. No specific events to help date the tape were mentioned on it. "Pakistan is targeted mainly because Americans don't want it to be a nuclear power in Asia because it is Muslim," the tape's speaker said. He said Musharraf wanted to "strangle the Jihad in Kashmir" by gradually abandoning the right of Kashmiri independence. He called on Pashtun tribes to protect the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters from U.S. and Pakistani forces hunting them. "Oh, you proud, strong tribes, your brothers of the Taliban and their allies are guests in your homes, so how can you allow allow the (Pakistani) agent of the crusaders and Jews to harm them?" he said. The tape also tried to incite the Pakistani army against Musharraf, saying he planned to rid them of nuclear arms and leave them prey to Indian enemies on the border. |
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