Qaeda member threatens U.S. embassies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American al Qaeda militant Adam Gadahn warned the United States and its allies on Sunday that the militant network would target diplomats and embassies in retaliation for U.S.-led actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Al Qaeda released a one-hour, 17-minute video showing a computer-animated depiction of the 2006 suicide attack on a U.S. diplomatic vehicle in Karachi, Pakistan, in which American diplomat David Foy died, according to the Web site of terrorism expert Laura Mansfield.

The March 2, 2006, attack near the gates of the U.S. consulate in Karachi killed Foy and three other people on the eve of U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Pakistan.

The authenticity of the video production could not be verified immediately, but it bore the markings of al Qaeda's media production arm, al-Sahab.

The video, which appeared in documentary format, also included a lengthy statement by the Karachi suicide bomber and footage from the aftermath of the explosion as well as the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa, the September 11 attacks on New York World's Trade Center and other bombings.

"We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens, and military command and control centers, from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan, and Iraq, and which still provide vital moral, military, material, and logistical support to the crusade, shall continue to be legitimate targets," the Mansfield Web site quoted Gadahn as saying in the video.

"The amount of respect we have for your international law is even less than the respect you hold for defined shariah, and our observance of it is comparable to your observance of shariah," he said, referring to Islamic law.

Gadahn, who is also known as Azzam the American, is a California-born convert to Islam and the first American to be charged with treason since the World War Two era. He is believed to be in Pakistan.

Gadahn has made a number of videotaped messages on behalf of al Qaeda. In a message in May, he warned that the United States would face worse attacks than those on September 11.

In the latest video, he wore a red and white Muslim scarf and spoke in English with Arabic subtitles.

The presentation also included new remarks by al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri and footage of the militant network's leader Osama bin Laden.

The Washington-based SITE Institute, which tracks militant activities, said Zawahri praised the 2006 Karachi bombing and called on Pakistani clerics to motivate Pakistani Muslims to join the Islamist armed struggle.

"Let the Muslims in Pakistan know that their individual duty now is to fight the Americans in Afghanistan and Pakistan and support whoever is fighting them," a SITE Institute release quoted Zawahri as saying.