Al-Qaeda Unappeased

CAIRO (AP) — Al-Qaeda's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri said in a new message Friday that last month's U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference was a "betrayal" of the Palestinians, the terror group's first reaction to the gathering. The audiotape by Osama bin Laden's deputy was the latest al-Qaeda attempt to rally Muslims using the widespread bitterness felt toward Israel over the Palestinian issue. Al-Zawahri focused his anger against Egypt, a top U.S. ally and the first Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel. He called on Bedouin tribes in his native country to rise up against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak. "The Annapolis meeting was held to turn Palestine into a Jewish state," al-Zawahri said in the 20-minute audio recording posted on an Islamic militant Web forum.

The Egyptian-born al-Zawahri denounced Mubarak's government, saying it had turned Egypt into a "base to supply the Crusader war on Muslims and Islam." He denounced Egypt's sealing of its border with Gaza after the takeover of the Palestinian territory by the militant group Hamas and Cairo's support for the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

• JJ Commentary: As we noted in last week’s report, the militant Islamists will not be appeased no matter how many concessions are made by Israel. Their only goal is Israel’s complete annihilation.