Egyptian Islamic theologian and al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, congratulated Egyptians for overthrowing former President Hosni Mubarak through a message published on a website yesterday. He demanded Egypt support Libya and its people and protect them from the crimes of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi. CNN said it was unsure of the message's authenticity. Al-Zawahiri said, "The war in Libya is a war in a Muslim nation." He asked the Egyptian people to support their Libyan counterparts, especially after the failure of the governments to protect Libyans from Gadhafi's crimes. There was another message after the death of Osama bin Laden in which al-Zawahiri accused NATO of trying to steal the Libyan revolution. The message was titled, ‘The sixth episode. The message of hope to the residents of Egypt. The war of Quran.' Al-Zawahiri described NATO as a bad intentioned subordinate for hegemonic power of the world. The website claimed the message was recorded before the killing of bin Laden in Pakistan. Al-Zawahiri talked about the wind of change that dominated the region and mentioned Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen as part of that change. He described the U.S. as the "crusader enemy." Al-Zawahiri added, "NATO's military campaign aims to overthrow Gadhafi's current regime and replace it with another loyal regime to so the U.S. can control Libya's wealth and oil. They want to turn Libya into another Iraq." The message was published after choosing Seif al-Adl as a temporary al-Qaeda leader after bin Laden's death. Ayman al-Zawahiri is assumed to be the sole figurehead of al-Qaeda after bin Laden's death. He was bin Laden's advisor and physician. Al-Zawahiri merged the Islamic Jihad into al-Qaeda in 1998. There is a U.S. $25 million reward for information about his whereabouts.
