Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman Al-Zawahiri has threatened to launch more attacks against the United States and the West.
In a new audio message, Al-Zawahiri said the terror network would strike at the heart of America and Europe for the killing former Al Qaeda official Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid.
"Oh American people We offered you a peace plan, and mutual benefit; but your governments were proud and haughty, and so the attacks against you followed one after another, everywhere - from Indonesia to Times Square, by way of Madrid and London. And the attacks are ongoing, and more will come one after another," said Zawahiri, according to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, based in Washington D.C.
ABC News quoted former White House national security official Richard Clarke, as saying that: "The US government and counter-terrorism officials are not going to increase their alert based on Zawahiri's statement, because of his previous track record. But they''re on relatively high alert already because of the increase in homegrown terrorist threats related to Al Qaeda."
The 47-minute audio message was posted on jihadist websites on July 27 by Al Qaeda's media arm Al-Sahab.
Yazid, who was referred to by American officials as al Qaeda's No. 3 leader behind Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri, is believed to have been killed in the last half of May by an American missile strike in Pakistan''s tribal areas.
He was of Egyptian descent and was considered a top financial officer and Al Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan.
Zawahiri was last heard from July 19, when an audio recording produced by Al-Sahab and posted on jihadist websites promised imminent victory in Afghanistan.
He has released only a handful of videos this year, and terrorism experts believe the two messages released this month were likely transported out at the same time.
