“I incite Muslims everywhere, especially in the countries that are contiguous to Syria, to rise up to support their brothers in Syria with all what they can and not to spare anything that they can offer,” Zawahiri stated in a two-hour video released on Jihadists websites.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.
Damascus blames the West and some of its allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, for arming and funding the insurgents.
Despite a temporary truce that took effect in Syria on Friday, the insurgents launched attacks in several areas, killing dozens of people and injuring tens of others.
The Syrian army has said that it is fully committed to the truce, but it is responding to insurgent attacks that violate the ceasefire.
In addition to the issue of Syria, the al-Qaeda leader called for the implementation of Sharia law in Egypt, and urged President Mohamed Morsi to define his policies on the Israeli regime and Egyptian Christians.
“The battle in Egypt is very clear. It is a battle between the secular minority that is allied with the church and that is leaning on the support of the army, who are made up by [former President Hosni] Mubarak and the Americans… and the Muslim ummah in Egypt that is seeking to implement sharia.”
(Press TV)
