CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's top deputy Ayman
al-Zawahri called on Muslims to launch holy war to break the siege of
Gaza, in a new audio recording posted Wednesday on a militant Web site.

In the 11-minute
recording, a voice purportedly by Osama bin Laden's deputy spoke in
Arabic and said the "salvation of the Muslim nation is through the
march of its sons on the path of jihad."

An
accompanying banner said the message was issued to mark the 41st
anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when over a period of six
days from June 5, Israeli warplanes destroyed 400 aircraft belonging to
Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq — most of them sitting on airport
tarmacs.

Egypt lost the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip;
Syria lost the Golan Heights and Jordan lost the West Bank and east
Jerusalem. Trying to minimize the shock and pain of the defeat, Arabs
have long called the Six Day War the "naksa" — or "setback" in Arabic —
but its impact remains a deep wound.

Al-Qaida deputy blames Arab regimes
In
al-Zawahri's recording, entitled "In Memory of the Naksa... Break the
Siege of Gaza," the al-Qaida deputy blamed Arab regimes for Arabs' 1967
debacle. Al-Zawahri said the Arab governments were "impotent and unable
to protect the Muslim nation, its sanctuaries and its wealth."

"The
sons of the nation should break the shackles of the treacherous regimes
and move to wage jihad which has become a duty," al-Zawahri said,
referring to holy war.

His
message seemed especially directed at the militant Hamas Palestinian
group, which last June seized power in the coastal strip of Gaza from
the more moderate supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,
who were left in control of the West Bank as bloody inter-Palestinian
clashes effectively split Palestinian territories in two.

Hamas'
Gaza seizure and its regular lobbying of rockets into Israel, prompted
Israel to impose a blockade on the strip. In January, hundreds of
thousands of Gazans streamed into Egypt after Hamas blew up a border
wall between Egypt and Gaza, seeking to restock on food and supplies.
Egypt later resealed the border, which has since opened only
occasionally to allow humanitarian aid through.

Egypt
has also tried to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel but the
effort faltered after both Hamas and Israel failed to agree on a truce
under which Hamas would stop firing missiles on Israeli villages and
towns.

Lashes out at Egypt
In
the recording, al-Zawahri also lashed out at Egyptian authorities,
declaring Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his troops "criminal
traitors" for perpetuating Israel's siege of Gaza by sealing it's own
boundary with the strip.

"You
have the right to enter Egypt whenever you like, and destroy the
treacherous siege," al-Zawahri told Gazans, appearing to be giving them
a license for more violence. "Those who confront you should not blame
anyone but themselves."

Just
hours before al-Zawahri's message was released, Abbas called for a
renewed dialogue with Hamas in a televised address to the Palestinians.
His aide Nimer Hamad said the "tragic situation in Gaza" required
Abbas' call at this time. Hamas promptly welcomed Abbas' offer.

Al-Zawahri
often issues audio and video recordings, speaking on a wide range of
topics. He has frequently discussed Palestinian issues.

The
Web is a key tool of al-Qaida's central leadership to inspire and
direct sympathizers at a time when some terror experts question how
much control they have over Islamic militants.

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