Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is well, and reports speculating about his sickness were false, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri said in a recording today.
"Sheikh Osama bin Laden is in good health," Zawahri, who is a doctor, said in response to questions compiled by Islamist websites. "The ill-intentioned always try to circulate false reports about him being sick."
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri photographed in 2001
Zawahri, who, like Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan, also denounced the United Nations and vowed to attack Jews both within and outside Israel.
"The United Nations is an enemy of Islam and Muslims," he said. "It has legalised the creation of the state of Israel and its seizure of Muslims' land . . . it has legalised the crusader presence in Afghanistan . . . and Iraq," he said in a 104-minute audio recording posted on the internet.
He defended attacks on UN offices in an apparent reference to twin bomb attacks on UN buildings in Algiers that killed 41 people in December and the 2003 bombing of a UN building in Baghdad that killed 22.
Zawahri also called for attacks on Jews. "We promise our Muslim brothers that we will do our utmost to strike Jews in Israel and abroad with help and guidance from God."
Al-Qaeda will turn to fight Israel after "winning" the war in Iraq against US-led and government forces, he said, adding that the United states had begun to collapse.
"The myth of unipolar world is over. The [September 11th, 2001] strikes on New York and Washington are identifying marks of this collapse, but empires do not collapse in a minute and could take decades. The collapse of the Soviet Union is the closest example."
The Egyptian militant also repeated al-Qaeda calls to Muslims to topple Western-allied governments and to attack Western and Israeli interests in Muslim countries. Zawahri urged Muslims to join fighters in "open jihad fields such as Somalia, Iraq, Algeria and Afghanistan" or to support them with money and information.
Many of the questions, compiled since December, were sharply critical of al-Qaeda and its practices, while others sought advice for joining jihad.