A 35-minute video clip by the Al-Qaeda media company Al-Sahab, posted on the Internet on September 13, 2012, featured an audio address by Al-Zawahiri marking the anniversary of 9/11. In it, he called on the Arabs to "take advantage of the U.S.'s weakness to purge the Muslim lands of corrupt rulers." In a 2001 segment not previously seen, Osama bin Laden states that a group of men had "set out to harm the interests of the Jews and the Christians."[1]
Also in the video, Al-Zawahiri presented newly released clips of two of the 9/11 hijackers reading their wills, and emphasized, "We urge Muslims to capture citizens of countries that fight the Muslims"
The following are excerpts from the section of the video in which Al-Zawahiri presents the two 9/11 hijackers and refers to hostage Warren Weinstein.
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
Al-Zawahiri: "The Reason For The Launching Of Those Blessed Raids... Is The Zionist-Crusader Occupation Of Muslim Lands, And Especially Of Palestine"
Ayman Al-Zawahiri: "These days, we are commemorating the 11th anniversary of the blessed raids in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. You are all aware of the defeats the U.S. has incurred during these years. America was defeated in Iraq, it is being defeated in Afghanistan, and four of its collaborators in the Arab world have collapsed.
"Today, however, I would like to focus my talk on some of the more serious aspects of those blessed raids. The most important of the aspects I want to discuss is the reason for the launching of those blessed raids: It is the Zionist-Crusader occupation of Muslim lands, and especially of Palestine."
9/11 Hijacker Khalid Muhammad Abdallah Al-Mihdahr: "Oh Allah, If You Were To Give Me A Thousand Lives, I Would Sacrifice Them For The Sake Of This Religion"
Title of speaker appears as: "Martyr Khalid Muhammad Abdallah Al-Mihdahr, One of the Heroes of the Blessed Tuesday Raids"
Khalid Muhammad Abdallah Al-Mihdahr: "Peace and Allah's mercy and blessings upon you.
"This is the message I leave behind to my nation, the nation of Islam, and to my brothers, the mujahideen, in [Palestine], the land of the israa, in the [Arabian Peninsula], where the revelation was sent down to our Prophet, and everywhere else: We continue to hold true to our pledge and to adhere to the Book of Allah.
[...]
"On his deathbed, the Prophet Muhammad said: 'Expel the polytheists from the Arabian Peninsula.' Alas, the Arab rulers have betrayed Allah and His Messenger. They betrayed their nation and sold out [Jerusalem], the masra of our Prophet, and then they exacerbated their betrayal. They have opened up the Land of the Two Holy Mosques before the Christian Americans. There is no power but that of Allah.
"We hereby declare a holy jihad by reviving the doctrine of the heroic mujahid, the martyr Yahya Ayyash – the doctrine of martyrdom operations for the sake of this religion, in order to inflict great losses upon the enemies of Allah.
"Oh Allah, if you were to give me a thousand lives, I would sacrifice them for the sake of this religion, in order to inflict great losses upon the enemies of Allah, who plunder our holy places and rob the resources of this nation."
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[...]
"This is your brother, Sinan Al-Mekki, Abu Nidaa, Khalid Muhammad Abdallah Al-Mihdhar. Safar 21, 1422 [May 14, 2001].
"Peace and Allah's mercy and blessings upon you."
Al-Zawahiri: "We Should Labor To Establish A State That... Will Renounce Secularism And The Rule By The Whims Of The Majority... This Mujahid Muslim State Will Consider One Of Its Most Important Duties To Be The Liberation Of Every Inch Of Muslim Land"
Ayman Al-Zawahiri: "The blessed raids of 9/11 were part of a campaign by the mujahid vanguard of the Islamic nation to confront the modern Crusader campaign, which aims to make us disintegrate so it could more easily devour us, one piece after another.
"Therefore, brothers, one cannot rely on the governments in the liberation of Palestine and the defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, because these governments are incapable of doing so, and in many cases, they assist Israel in its aggression.
"This nation, with its mujahideen and its free, honorable, and good people, is capable of defeating the Zionist-Crusader enterprise, Allah willing, in the heart of the Islamic world, and especially in occupied Palestine, like it defeated this enterprise, with the grace of Allah, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and like it managed to deliver the greatest blow in the history of America, on its own land, changing American history and destroying its economy.
[...]
"We should labor to establish a state that follows a godly path, which will renounce secularism and the rule by the whims of the majority, a state that will believe in brotherhood among Muslims, and will not distinguish among them according to their nationality, in the service of their enemies, a state that will believe in the unity of Muslim lands, and will do away with the borders of national states, which were delineated on our soil by the leaders of colonialism, and later, in our minds and hearts by the secular curricula.
"This mujahid Muslim state will consider one of its most important duties to be the liberation of every inch of Muslim land, from the Caucasus to Zanzibar, from Afghanistan and Kashmir to East Timor and the Philippines, and from East Turkestan to Andalusia.
"That state will believe that the liberation of Palestine does not pertain only to the Palestinians. It is a duty incumbent upon each and every Muslim, just like every Muslim in Palestine must labor to liberate every inch of occupied Muslim land." [...]
9/11 Hijacker Salem Al-Hazemi: "This Operation Is Part Of The Jihad Against America And Its Helpers"
Title of speaker appears as: "Martyr Salem Al-Hazemi (Bilal Al-Makki). One of the Heroes of the Blessed Tuesday Raids"
Salem Al-Hazemi: "I send a message to America from where I am: The soldiers of Allah are coming. This operation is part of the jihad against America and its helpers, in order to elevate the word of Allah, to restore the honor of the Muslims, and to drive you out of the Arabian Peninsula." [...]
Al-Zawahiri: "We Urge Muslims To Capture Citizens Of Countries That Fight The Muslims"
Ayman Al-Zawahiri: "Our message to the peoples of the Islamic and Arab nation is that they should use this moment of American weakness to purify their countries of the corrupt and corrupting rulers.
[...]
"They should topple the Western proxies left in our countries, and especially the Saud clan and the Gulf sheiks in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the sons of France in the Islamic Maghreb.
"Sheikh Osama bin Laden, Allah's mercy upon him, said time and again that the fact that the U.S. holds Muslims and their scholars captive – and especially Sheik Omar Abd Al-Rahman – constitutes crime and aggression against the Islamic nation. Allah granted us the success of capturing the American Jew Warren Weinstein."
Clip of Warren Weinstein in captivity, pleading for his release
Title: "A message from the Prisoner Warren Weinstein to Jewish Pressure groups in America"
Warren Weinstein (in English): "My name is Warren Weinstein, and I am talking now to my wife, to my daughters, to my grandchildren, to let them know that I am well, that I am taking all my medications and being taken care of, and to request, Elaine, that you and the family please make as many contacts as you can with Jewish communities in the United States in order to put pressure on the American government and on President Obama to work with and accept the demands of the mujahideen, in order for me to gain my freedom.
"Perhaps you can also make an appeal to the Republican candidate to see if they would also work and put pressure on President Obama and deal with the mujahideen in order to respond to their demands."
Ayman Al-Zawahiri: "Allah willing, he will not win his freedom until our prisoners are free, and first and foremost, Omar Abd Al-Rahman, Aafia Sidiqqui, Hasnaa, the widow of Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir, and Khaled Sheik Muhammad.
"We urge Muslims to capture citizens of countries that fight the Muslims in order to release the Muslim prisoners." [...]
Endnotes:
[1] MEMRI JTTM report In 9/11 Anniversary Address, Al-Zawahiri Calls On Arabs To "Take Advantage Of U.S. Weakness To Purge Muslim Lands Of Corrupt Rulers" September 13, 2012
