WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden's right-hand man Thursday warned al-Qaida operatives were preparing new attacks on U.S. targets.
In a new audiotape aired by Arabic television Al-Jazeera, al-Qaida's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said Americans should be ready for the consequences of their actions in the Islamic world.
"The Islamic nation which sent you the New York and Washington brigades has taken the firm decision to send you successive brigades to sow death and aspire to paradise," said a speaker who claimed he was Zawahiri. Al-Jazeera said the voice was similar to previous tapes later confirmed as Zawahiri's.
U.S. intelligence services suspect Zawahiri planned and executed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States with help and support from bin Laden.
In the new tape, the speaker said U.S. claims of working for peace, security and freedom in the world were hollow.
Iraq, he said, was previously run by an anti-Islamic dictator, Saddam Hussein, and is now being run by an anti-Islamic occupation, America.
Zawahiri also rejected President Bush's claim as incorrect that U.S. forces and their allies had destroyed two-thirds of the al-Qaida network.
