20 April,2009 11:16 AM IST | | Agencies
The second-ranking leader of the al-Qaeda network, Ayman al-Zawahiri, said in a new video that US President Barack Obama "did not change anything" about the Muslims' perception of the United States.
"The new President Obama did not change anything of the image of America towards Muslims and the oppressed," according to excerpts of Zawahiri's statement released by the SITE Intelligence Group. "It is America that is still killing Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan," the al-Qaeda's number two said in the video that was released today.
"It is America that steals their fortunes, occupies their land, and supports the thieving, corrupt, and traitor rulers in their countries," Zawahiri insisted. "And consequently, the problem is not over. Rather, it is likely to deteriorate and escalate."
Earlier this month, Obama used his visit to Turkey to declare that the US is not and never will be at war with Islam. But Zawahiri insisted that the Obama administration was conducting the same policies as the administration of former president George W Bush, but with a different face.
