TIMELINE: Messages attributed to Ayman al-Zawahri
(Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said in an audio message to mark five years since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that Washington's war had met with nothing but failure and defeat.
At least 50 messages have been broadcast by Osama bin Laden, Zawahri and their allies since the September 11 attacks in 2001. The last message from bin Laden was in late November.
Following is a chronology of major statements attributed to Zawahri since 2007.
January 22 - Zawahri mocks President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.
February 13 - Zawahri says Bush's troop build-up in Iraq is a gamble bound to fail. He vows reprisals against Arab and Muslim countries supporting U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
March 11 - Zawahri accuses the Islamist group Hamas of serving U.S. interests by agreeing to respect past Palestinian accords with Israel in a Saudi-brokered deal with the faction.
May 23 - Zawahri eulogizes Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah, killed in Afghanistan earlier in the month, and urges his followers to pursue his fight against U.S.-led forces.
June 25 - Zawahri urges all Muslims to support Hamas in its battles with President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel.
July 4 - Zawahri talks about unity in jihad and calls for the overthrow of "corrupt" Muslim governments in a new video.
July 10 - Zawahri threatens more attacks on Britain two weeks after failed bombings in London and Glasgow.
July 11 - Zawahri, in an Internet recording, calls for revenge over the Pakistani government assault on an Islamabad mosque that killed more than 70 Islamists.
December 14 - Zawahri, in audio recording, accuses Arab leaders of betraying the Palestinians by attending a Middle East peace conference at Annapolis in the United States and urges Muslims to keep fighting. Zawahri denounced the roles of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, saying they were serving Israel and U.S. interests.
December 16 - Zawahri says in a video posted on the Internet that Britain's handover of security in southern Iraq shows insurgents are gaining the upper hand there.
April 2, 2008 - In a new audio message, Zawahri denounces the United Nations, vows to attack Jews both within and outside Israel and says bin Laden was alive and well.
April 18 - Zawahri in a new message, mocks Bush's decision to suspend troop withdrawals from Iraq this summer, saying the U.S. president was scared of admitting defeat. Zawahri also mocked hopes that the Awakening Councils, security units created by Sunni Arab tribal groups to fight al Qaeda in Iraq, would restore stability to the country.
(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;)
