Al-Qaida tape calls for jihad in Iraq

CAIRO, Egypt – Al-Qaida’s No. 2 has issued a new video calling on Muslims to unite in jihad, or holy war, and support the Islamist movement in Iraq, a U.S.-based intelligence monitoring group said Wednesday.

Ayman al-Zawahri is seen in the one-hour, 35-minute tape dressed in white and addressing an array of Middle Eastern topics from Iraq to Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian territories and Egypt, said the SITE intelligence group, which monitors al-Qaida messages.

On each issue, he called for a more radical stance against the United States and its regional allies.

Al-Qaida’s deputy chief called on all Muslims to join the holy war against the West.

“May Allah pluck out your eye if you haven’t yet seen that jihad is an individual duty,” the transcript quoted al-Zawahri as saying.