Al-Qaeda's Afghan head 'named'

In the tape, sections of which were aired on Thursday, al-Yazid said that al-Qaeda fighters would soon carry out attacks, and that al-Qaeda's Arab fighters were working "side by side" with its non-Arabs fighters.

He said: "The number of fighters is increasing. The support they receive from Muslims in Afghanistan is almost total."

Al-Yazid said that attacks against "the Americans, Nato and the treasonous government" were increasing and promised "defeat, expulsion and failure for the enemy crusaders and their apostate helpers".

He also pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda leader, and Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's deputy.

He said: "God bless our two emirs, Sheikh Osama [bin Laden] and Sheikh Ayman [al-Zawahiri] ... May both sheikhs, Osama and Ayman, remain a thorn in the side of [George] Bush."

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E70A0F42-B5C3-4E86-8A51-13B66A40BEB3.htm