Al-Qaeda No.2 vows jihad in bin Laden eulogy
AYMAN al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's long-time number two, vowed in a video eulogy to Usama bin Laden to pursue his jihad against the West, warning, "the man who terrified America in his life will continue to terrify it after his death".
The video message, titled "The Noble Knight Dismounted", was posted on jihadist online forums overnight, AFP reported, citing the SITE intelligence group.
A US official who reviewed the message told FOX News it was "significant that a month after bin Laden's death, Zawahiri still can't say that he leads al Qaeda. It is clear that bin Laden's number two does not have the succession locked up".
The tape was being read by intelligence analysts as further evidence of a battle for succession within the al Qaeda network and "this may be the old guard unraveling at a time when the new guard or new chapter has not stepped up", the official said.
He said that the tone of the message - that al Qaeda was bigger than bin Laden - had also caught the attention of analysts.
He also warned, "You will continue to be troubled by (bin Laden's) famous vow: You shall not dream of security until we enjoy it and until you depart the Muslims' lands".
Zawahiri vowed allegiance to the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, AFP reported.
"We renew our allegiance to the leader of the believers, Mullah Mohammad Omar," said Zawahiri, speaking of the one-eyed leader who has a $US10 million bounty on his head.
Last month, the Taliban fiercely denied Omar had died after an Afghan intelligence source called a handful of reporters to say he had been killed by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
Bin Laden was killed May 2 in a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan by US Navy SEALs.