Al-Qaida leader would use nukes vs. U.S.

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 22 (UPI) -- Mustafa Abul-Yazeed, al-Qaida's leader in Afghanistan, says the group would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons against the United States if it possessed them.

Abul-Yazeed, acknowledged as the terror group's third-in-command, made the statements to the al-Jazeera television network, the broadcaster said Monday.

"By God's will, the Americans will not seize the Muslims' nuclear weapons and we pray that the Muslims will have these weapons and they will be used against the Americans," he said in an exclusive interview.

Abul-Yazeed told al-Jazeera that al-Qaida had been assisting Taliban militants in their fight against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan and against Pakistani government forces in that country's Swat Valley and tribal areas. He predicted insurgents would defeat the government in the Swat battles.

He also said al-Qaida's two main leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, "are safe from the reach of the enemies, but I don't know where they are and I can't say where they are, but they are aware of everything and all the fighting in the field."