In what appeared to be his first video message since succeeding Osama bin Laden as the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri expressed strong support for anti-government activists in Syria, claiming that their movement to topple the country’s authoritarian leader was rooted in a wider regional conflict with the United States and Israel.
The seven-minute video was posted online Wednesday by As Sahab, the media branch of al-Qaeda, and recorded sometime in the past month, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist communications and translated the video. Al-Qaeda announced in mid-June that al-Zawahri had been chosen to lead the group.
Addressing the protesters who for more than four months have faced a crackdown by Assad’s government, al-Zawahri tried to link his network to their popular movement, and President Bashar Assad to the U.S.
