A SENIOR figure in al-Qaeda has blamed Barack Obama, the US president-elect, for not doing anything to stop Israel's offensive in Gaza.
In a new audio recording released on a militant website on Tuesday, Ayman al-Zawahiri described Israel's actions in Gaza as a "crusade against Islam and Muslims" and "Obama's gift to Israel" before he takes office later this month.
According to an
intelligence monitoring centre, Zawahiri said: "This is Obama, whom the American machine of lies tried to portray as the rescuer who will change the policy of America. He kills your brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection."
The recording is thought to contain al-Qaeda's first comments on the Gaza offensive since Israel launched it on 27 December.
Zawahiri, who is Egyptian, was also critical of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, describing him as a "traitor" for keeping Egypt's border with the militant Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip closed.
"At the time when Israeli planes drop their bombs from the air, he closes the borders with his forces so that the plan of the killing of believers in Gaza is fulfilled," Zawahiri is reported to have said.
He urged Egyptians and Muslims around the world to pressure Egypt into opening the border. Thousands of people in cities worldwide have held mass street demonstrations to protest Israel's offensive, but Zawahiri said those were not enough.
"Fight the Zionist Crusader," he added.
