Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has branded the handover of Basra province to Iraqi puppet forces as an attempt by coalition forces to "flee" the country.
In an interview conducted with the group's media arm, he claimed fighters belonging to al-Qaida were gaining the upper hand across the country and that the transfer of control to local puppet forces was proof of this.
The al-Qaida second-in-command said Iraq was one of the "most important" areas where Islamic insurgents were fighting and claimed US occupation forces were losing their grip on the country.
But in a video of the interview posted on Islamic websites, Zawahiri acknowledged local tribes who had previously fought with al-Qaida were now fighting against them. He condemned fighters who defected as traitors and called on groups within the country to fight for the Islamic State in Iraq, a coalition of insurgents of which al-Qaida is a part.
He also claimed the US was trying to deceive its own people about progress made in the Middle Eastern country through its "gigantic propaganda machine" and compared the present situation facing American forces in Iraq to that of Vietnam.
In addition, Zawahiri called on people to send in questions to him via a website so that he could answer them in an interview next month.
Source: Agencies
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