JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel "is a crime that should be removed," an al-Qaida leader said.
Ayman al-Zawahri, the terrorist group’s second-in-command, also said Monday that Israel is a crime against Muslims. He made the statements during an interview with the al-Qaida media division that was posted on an Islamist Web site, according to reports.
Zawahri also said that President Obama wanted a Palestinian state that would serve as "an extension of the CIA."
He criticized Obama’s decision to give a speech addressing the Muslim world from Egypt, saying that it showed that America "stands with the continuation of the existing tyrannical, rotten regimes." Egypt signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1981.
Zawahri added that Obama had already sent the Islamic world a message during his campaign, "when he visited the Wailing Wall, put on his head the Jew’s cap and prayed their prayers, though he claims to be Christian."
