Ayman al-Zawahri, reportedly al-Qaida's second in command,
warned in a videotape aired Monday September 11, the fifth
anniversary of the attacks on New York City and Washington,
DC, that Israel and Persian Gulf countries are al-Qaida's
next targets. On Tuesday there was an armed attack on the US
Embassy in Damascus. Three of the attackers and one of the
defenders were killed. No American casualties were
reported.
Dressed in white clothes, al-Zawahri said American troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan were "doomed to defeat" and pledged that
the United States military would be expelled from the Persian
Gulf region. He urged Muslims around the world to take up
arms against the United States.
Several video messages were released recently, apparently in
connection with the fifth anniversary of the al-Qaida
criminal attacks on the United States. Also released on
Monday was a video showing al-Qaida operatives planning the
Sept. 11 attacks, as well as two of the Sept. 11 hijackers
reading from their wills. According to news reports, al-Qaida
has released close to 50 video messages so far in 2006, about
three times its usual output.
According to the purely lunar calendar used by Moslems, the
fifth anniversary of the criminal attacks fell on July 19
this year. According to our Jewish calendar which is based on
a lunar month but a solar year, the yahrtzeit falls
out this coming Shabbos, 23 Elul. Although five years have
passed, the event remains emotionally charged in the United
States and commemorations of the events were the focus of
attention of the whole nation early this week.
Al-Zawahri condemned the UN peacekeeping force now deploying
in Lebanon. "What is so terrible in this resolution . . . is
that it approves the existence of the Jewish state and
isolates our mujahedeen in Palestine from Muslims in
Lebanon," he said.
"This is consecrated by the presence of international troops
who are hostile to Islam," he said. "Anyone who accepts this
resolution means that he accepts all these catastrophes.
"Your leaders are hiding from you the true extent of the
disaster," he said to the West. "And the days are pregnant
and giving birth to new events."
The video appeared to be new since Zawahri refers to Israel's
bombardment of Lebanon this summer and the capture of Israeli
soldiers near Lebanon and Gaza.
Since the video release was timed for the Western anniversary
of the attacks, it was clear that their main intent was
propaganda. Moslem leaders usually follow their own
calendar.
Terrorism experts in Washington were examining the tape to
find any coded messages that Mr. Zawahri might be sending,
but US officials did not seem to be concerned that the tape
signals an impending attack.
On Tuesday morning Islamic militants attempted to storm the
U.S. Embassy in Damascus using automatic rifles, hand
grenades and at least one van rigged with explosives. There
was no word about the affiliation of the attackers, and no
outside experts identified them.
The United States has not had an ambassador in Syria since it
recalled its ambassador in February 2005 after the
assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri
in Beirut. The US blamed Syria for the killing.
The American embassy in Damascus is located in a neighborhood
that is heavily guarded and includes many foreign
delegations. A Chinese diplomat and two Iraqi nationals were
injured in the fighting though they were not targets.
In the standard practice at most American embassies
worldwide, a local guard force patrols outside the compound's
walls while U.S. Marines are responsible for an inner circle
where sensitive documents and personnel are located.
According to news reports, the Marines were not involved in
the fighting.
There were various reports of the exact sequence of events,
and not all of them agreed. Syrian media said four armed
attackers attacked the US Embassy using automatic rifles and
hand grenades. The attackers came in two cars and parked one
that was rigged with explosives in front of the embassy but
did not blow it up. Syrian security guards attacked the
gunmen, killing three and wounding a fourth.
According to some witnesses they did blow up a second car.
Broadcasts showed a delivery van loaded with pipe bombs
strapped to large propane gas canisters outside the Embassy.
Had the explosives detonated as intended, there would have
been massive damage.
As it is, the attackers did not penetrate the 2.5 meter walls
that surround the embassy. They reportedly threw several hand
grenades over, but did not cause any serious damage.
