Aljazeera reports that Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s  number two, in a new video message has called US President George Bush a liar who had failed in his war against al-Qaeda.

In a portion of the same video, posted on the internet on Friday and released by the Virginia-based IntelCenter, al-Zawahiri addresses Bush: “Why don’t you tell them how many million citizens of America and its allies you intend to kill in search of the imaginary victory and in breathless pursuit of the mirage towards which you are driving your people’s sons in order to increase your profits?”

On Thursday, Islamist websites had said there  would be a new video message posted by al-Zawahiri entitled Bush, the pope, Darfur and the Crusades.

In Friday’s video, al-Zawahiri called Bush a “lying failure” for saying progress had been made in the war on terrorism.

“Bush you are a lying failure and a charlatan. It has been three and a half years [since the arrests] … What happened to us? We have gained more strength and we are more insistent on martyrdom,” he said.

Al-Zawahiri was referring to the arrest of al-Qaeda figures such as Khalid Shaikh Muhammad, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the US.

“Bush, O failure and liar, why don’t you be courageous for once and confront your people and tell them the truth about your losses in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Pope criticised

Al-Zawahiri also called Pope Benedict a “charlatan” because of his remarks on Islam.

“This charlatan accused Islam of being incompatible with rationality while forgetting that his own Christianity is unacceptable to a sensible mind.”

In a speech to a university in his native Germany on September 12, Pope Benedict quoted criticism of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who wrote that everything Muhammad brought was evil and inhuman.

The pontiff said there was no room for violence in a religion based on reason.

Darfur ‘holy war’

Al-Zawahiri also urged Muslims to engage in a holy war against proposed UN peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region.

“O Muslim nation, come to defend your lands from Crusaders masked as United Nations [troops]. Nothing will protect you except popular jihad [holy war].”

AGENCIES

The US and Syria have again clashed with Washington urging other countries to impose sanctions on Damascus and Syria telling the US to stop trying to impose its will on Arabs.

According to a state department transcript released on Tuesday, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, told the New York Times: “We’d like to get some others to join us in other kinds of sanctions [against Syria].”

Washington has long listed Syria as a “state sponsor of terrorism” and has accused it of fueling violence in Iraq.

In May 2004, Washington banned US exports to Syria other than food and medicine, severed banking relations with the Commercial Bank of Syria and barred Syrian flights to and from America.

Washington also recalled its ambassador to Damascus after the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, although Syria denies any involvement.

Rice said: “We’re going to have to look at tougher measures if Syria continues to be on the path that it’s on.”

She gave no details on what sanctions the US might want to impose but Sean McCormack, the state department spokesman, said: “We have a variety of measures that are available to us.”

Paying the price

Walid al-Moualem, Syria’s foreign minister, told the UN General Assembly: “Tragically enough, we all end up paying the price when the decision makers in Washington believe that they know better, and are in a better position to understand and grasp the needs and circumstances of the Arabs.

“They diagnose the ambitions and aspirations of the Arab individual in a manner that is tailored to their own vision.”

He criticised the US for its support of Israel and other policies in the Middle East, saying the flow of US weapons to Israel was sowing destruction.

He said: “The Palestinians are subjected to a crippling blockade because the advocates of democracy were dissatisfied with the results of the elections in the Palestinian territories.”

The US and EU have imposed financial sanctions on the Hamas-led Palestinian government since it came to power in March.

AGENCIES

George Bush, the US president, has rejected claims that a leaked intelligence report concludes the Iraq war has increased the threat of global terrorism.

“Some people have guessed what’s in the report and concluded that going in to Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree,” Bush said.

The National Intelligence Estimate report, excerpts of which were published by the New York Times newspaper last weekend, said that analysis by the 16 US spy agencies concluded the Iraq war had spread Islamic radicalism and made the overall terrorism problem worse.

However, Bush said that using the report to attack his administrations policies was “naive”.

“I think it’s a mistake for people to believe that going on the offense against people that want to do harm to the American people makes us less safe,” he said.

‘Political’ leak

The US president, who said he would declassify parts of the report, also said that it was leaked for political reasons ahead of the US mid-term elections in November.

“Here we are coming down the stretch in an election campaign and it’s on the front page of your newspapers,” Bush said.

“Somebody took it upon themselves to leak classified information for political purposes.”

Leading Democrat politicians have urged the US government to publish the report, which they say shows the Bush administration mishandled the 2003 invasion of Iraq and ensuing fighting.

AGENCIES

The French defence ministry is to investigate the leak of a foreign intelligence document that raised the possibility that Osama bin Laden may have died of typhoid.

Jacques Chirac, the French president, said he was “a bit surprised at the leak” and said he had asked Michele Alliot-Marie, the defence minister, to investigate its source.

On Saturday, the regional newspaper l’Est Republicain, published what it said was a copy of DGSE intelligence service document that cited an uncorroborated report from the Saudi secret services that the al-Qaeda leader had died.

The DGSE transmitted the document, dated September 21, to Chirac and other top French officials, the newspaper said.

“According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead,” it read.

“The information gathered by the Saudis indicates that the head of al Qaeda fell victim, while he was in Pakistan on August 23, to a very serious case of typhoid that led to a partial paralysis of his internal organs.”

“His geographic isolation provoked by constant fleeing is  believed to have made medical assistance impossible (and) on  September 4, 2006, the Saudi security services received preliminary information of his death.”

It said the Saudis were “waiting to obtain further details and  notably the exact place of burial before officially announcing the news.”

The Saudi interior ministry was not available for comment.

Internet reports

“This information is in no way whatsoever confirmed,” Chirac said when asked about the document.

The Washington-based IntelCenter, which monitors al-Qaeda communications, said it was not aware of any similar reports on the internet.

“We’ve seen nothing from any al-Qaeda messaging or other indicators that would point to the death of Osama bin Laden,” said director Ben N Venzke.

The last time the IntelCenter says it could be sure bin Laden was alive was June 29, when al-Qaeda released an audiotape in which he praised al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike in Iraq earlier that month.

Officials in Pakistan and the US, which has made capturing bin Laden a priority, were unable to confirm the document’s account.

AGENCIES

Speaking at a victory rally in south Beirut in his first public appearance since the war with Israel, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his group still had over 20,000 rockets available.

Nasrallah joined hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah supporters who filled the devastated southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday with a sea of yellow flags to celebrate “divine victory” in their month-long war against Israel.

“The resistance today has more than 20,000 rockets. The resistance is today stronger than on July 12 [the outbreak of the hostiltities] … and stronger than ever before,” he said.

One of Israel’s stated aims in the offensive was to eliminate Hezbollah’s capacity to fire rockets, thousands of which were fired at the country during the conflict.

Nasrallah last appeared in public at a news conference on July 12 when he announced the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah fighters, an act which led to the Israeli attacks.

The assembled crowd, which Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television said was in the hundreds of thousands, was swollen by Amal supporters waving the green flags of the sometime rival but more recently allied movement.

Supporters arrived from across Lebanon, with many setting off for the capital on Thursday by car and on foot from Shia villages in the south of the country, an area badly damaged in the Israeli offensive.

No weapon handover

Nasrallah said his fighters will give up their weapons only when “Israel’s threats” end and the Lebanese government is strong enough to protect the country.

“We will not give up our arms in a weak Lebanese state incapable of defending itself from the threat of Israel,” Aljazeera quoted him as saying on Friday.

“There is no army in the world that can [force us] to drop our weapons from our hands, from our grip.

“We will not release the two captured Israeli soldiers except in an exchange for Lebanese prisoners.

“We do not want to keep our arms for ever. We do not say that our arms are forever, and this is not logical. It has to end.

“But any word on disarming the resistance under this state, this authority, this regime and this current situation means keeping Lebanon under the risk of having Israel killing and bombarding at will.”

AGENCIES

The Iranian president has said the country would be prepared to suspend some of its nuclear activities if negotiations take place “under fair conditions”.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a UN news conference in New York that talks with the European Union on Iran’s nuclear programme were on the right track.

In the most explicit indication by the Iranian leader that Tehran is seriously considering complying with the key condition for broader talks on the issue, he said: “We have said that under fair conditions and just conditions we will negotiate about it.”

In an apparent reference to the US, he said: “We believe those negotiations are moving on the right path. Hopefully others will not disrupt the work.”

‘No bomb’

Repeatedly questioned about the programme that Washington and its allies say hides efforts to build a nuclear weapon, Ahmadinejad said: “The bottom line is, we do not need a bomb, not like what others think.”

He later added: “We are not seeking a nuclear bomb, let me make that clear.”

The Iranian leader spoke during his three-day visit to New York to address the UN General Assembly where he also defended his country’s uranium enrichment and attacked US policy.

Iran ignored a UN Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment by August 31.

According to diplomats, the US and its European allies have decided to give Iran until early October to make progress in nuclear talks before they start discussing UN sanctions against Tehran.

Guarantees

Britain, France and Germany drew up a package of economic and political incentives hoping to persuade Iran to give up uranium enrichment. But Iran has not given a firm response.

Margaret Beckett, the British foreign secretary, said on Wednesday: “What we are looking for is a clear and concrete signal that Iran wishes to negotiate.

“If things drag on as they have been, then there are concerns and consequences about how that can continue.”

Regarding the documents and access to nuclear facilities that Iran has already given the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ahmadinejad said: “I am at a loss in understanding what else we need to do to provide guarantees.”

AGENCIES

Israeli forces will leave southern Lebanon by Friday, according to the chief of Israel’s army.

Dan Halutz, Lieutenant-General of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said the last of the troops will leave Lebanon by the Jewish new year.

Halutz told parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee “he hoped the last troops will leave southern Lebanon by the eve of  Rosh Hashana [which takes place on Saturday],” according to a member of the panel.

Israeli forces have remained in southern Lebanon for more than a month after an August 14 ceasef-ire ended the 34-day deadly war between the Jewish state and Shia guerrillas Hezbollah.

More French troops

Troops have gradually redeployed south of the volatile border as French-led international forces, under a UN mandate, and the Lebanese army assume control in southern Lebanon - the latter for the first time.

About 150 French troops and dozens of military vehicles arrived in south Lebanon on Tuesday, launching a week-long deployment to reinforce the UN peacekeeping mission.

About 900 French soldiers had gathered at a temporary camp in Beirut awaiting orders to move south to a base in Deir Kifa, east of the port of Tyre.

France is contributing the second-largest contingent of 2,000 soldiers and will command the UN force - known as UNIFIL - until early next year, when Italy is to take over.

Halutz, who has been criticised at home for perceived failures during the war, was reported to have said that officers planned to meet UN representatives in southern Lebanon on Tuesday to discuss the remaining handover.

Assurances

Israel said it would leave Lebanon once it has assurances from the United Nations about the deployment of 5,000 troops under the UNIFIL mandate.

“If the army tells us that these conditions have been met, the prime minister will give the go-ahead for the final withdrawal of the Israeli forces,” said Miri Eisin, a spokewoman for Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister.

Halutz was quoted as telling the parliamentary committee that Hezbollah “has been thoroughly respecting the cease-fire agreement” and that its guerrillas refrain from carrying weapons in the open.

Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Israeli troops were to withdraw from territory occupied during an offensive that began on July 12 after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers during a cross-border raid.

More than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed during the fighting.

Israel has launched a government inquiry into the conduct of the war after widespread public pressure to investigate the offensive that failed to halt Hezbollah rocket attacks or retrieve the two captured soldiers.

AGENCIES

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Jihad, a principle of Islam is not for imposing religious belief on others, it is a liberation movement and campaign against slavery.

In a meeting with members of the headquarters in charge of organizing prayers congregations, the Supreme Leader said that it is unjust to be ignorant of the principle of Jihad, and at the same time introduce it in a bad way — a reference to a statement made by Pope Benedict XVI who misportrayed Jihad to link Islam to violence.

“The first aspect of Pope’s statement is the accusation he brought against Islam and the second aspect is that the Pope has rushed to the aid of hegemonist powers to create religious conflict between Muslims and Christians.

“The accusation Pope brought on Islam’s negligence of contemplation (intellect) is just like denial of light of the Sun, because none of the heavenly books has emphasized the intellect to the extent the holy Quran did and the illuminating civilization of the Islamic Ummah is indication of Islam’s focus on science.”

The Supreme Leader said that Islam recommended kind and merciful conduct with followers of other religions and the holy Quran said that mankind deserve respect just for being mankind, so how the Pope linked Islam to violence?

“The Pope’s statement revealed the backdrop of conspiracy of the arrogant powers to create tension between religions and lead followers of different religions to stand against each other rather than cooperate in the international community,” the Supreme Leader said.

“Of course, it seems the Pope has been deceived by the executives of arrogant powers and did not pay attention to the objectives behind such statement,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“Western papers had attempted to incite crusade by printing caricatures against Islam and the Pope’s statement is a new link of the same chain.

“We do not expect anything from Bush, because, he works for the plundering US companies, but, such a statement from a religious leader of Christianity is regrettable and surprising,” the Supreme Leader said.

IRNA

Pope Benedict has said he is sorry for offending Muslims in a speech this week in which he implicitly linked Islam and violence.

The Vatican issued a statement on Saturday saying the pope hoped Muslims would understand the “true sense” of his words.

The statement, issued by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, said the pope was “extremely upset” that parts of his speech “were able to sound offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers”.

Bertone added that the comments, which led to protests across the globe, had been interpreted in a way “that does not at all correspond to his intentions”.

“The pope is unequivocally in favour of dialogue between  religions and cultures,” he said.

Apology rejected

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, however, said the pope’s apology did not go far enough.

“We want a personal apology [from the pope]. We feel that he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology,” Mohammed Habib, the deputy leader of the organisation, said.

“Has he presented a personal apology for statements by which he clearly is convinced? No,” he said.

On Saturday Morocco also recalled its ambassador to the Vatican following the pope’s “offensive remarks”.

The pope made remarks in a speech on Tuesday at a German university, in which he quoted from a medieval text which said “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached”.

The comments sparked angry protests from the Muslim community.

Demonstrations against the pope were witnessed in the Palestinian territories, Pakistan, India, Egypt and elsewhere.

On Friday thousands marched in the Gaza Strip on Friday waving the green flags of Hamas and chanting praises to “God and his prophet”.

Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, criticised the pope’s  comments, saying: “These remarks go against the truth and touch the heart of our faith”.

Two churches in the West Bank and several Christian institutions in Gaza were bombed, causing damage but no casualties.

‘Revenge’ calls

Leading politicians and several prominent Christian and Muslim leaders also criticised the remarks.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, called on Saturday for the pope to apologise for his “unfortunate, ugly” remarks on Islam.

The Iraqi government has also called for calm after a church in Basra was reportedly attacked.

Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin, a hardline cleric linked to Somalia’s powerful Islamist group the Islamic Courts Group, called for Muslims to hunt down and kill the pope for his remarks.

“We call on all Islamic communities across the world to take  revenge on the baseless critic called the pope,” he was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

AGENCIES

Hezbollah’s Political Official in southern Lebanon Hassan Ezzeddin referred to British Premier Tony Blair as the murderer of Lebanese people.

In an interview with IRNA on Wednesday, Ezzeddin said Britain is the main accomplice of the Zionist regime in its incursions to Lebanon and London has played a significant role in the massacre of innocent Lebanese women and children by giving weapons and ammunitions to Israel.

He added Blair’s visit to Beirut did not serve Lebanon’s interests because the British premier gives priority to Israel’s interests.

Ezzeddin emphasized that the political and popular movements in Lebanon adopted the best stance in condemnation of Britain’s policies through holding demonstrations and staging strikes during Blair’s visit to Beirut.

Meanwhile, Lebanese MP Hassan Hobollah said submitting to U.S. demands will put Lebanon in an undermined position.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Beirut on Monday to meet with the Lebanese officials amid the Lebanese people’s protests.

IRIB