Osama bin Laden's chief deputy Ayman al-Zawahri called on militants in an audiotape released earlier Tuesday to expel the "invading Crusaders" who pretend to be peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and not to accept resolution 1701.

Al-Zawahri was referring to the U.N. resolution that ended the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the summer of 2006. A 13,500-strong U.N. force, known as UNIFIL, monitors the truce in southern Lebanon.

"The road is long but they have to break the siege imposed on them and to shove their way to Palestine," al-Zawahri said, referring to militants in Lebanon.

The authenticity of the audio could not be independently confirmed. But the voice sounded like past audiotapes from al-Zawahri, and the posting where it was found bore the logo of Al-Sahab, al-Qaida's official media arm.

Lebanese Sports Minister Ahmed Fatfat told Al-Arabiya television that al-Zawahri's comments were "very dangerous and a bad omen for the Lebanese."

In any country where al-Zawahri and al-Qaida settle, destruction prevails as we witnessed in a large number of countries, Fatfat said.

U.N. officials in Lebanon declined to comment on al-Zawahri's threat.
There have been several attacks on U.N. troops in Lebanon in recent years.

Six Spanish peacekeepers were killed in a car bombing in south Lebanon last June. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack or another one that followed in July. But in a July videotape, al-Zawahri blessed the attack against the Spanish contingent.

In January, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.N. vehicle traveling along a coastal highway south of Beirut, lightly wounding two peacekeepers.

The U.S. has strongly urged Americans to avoid traveling to Lebanon.

"The U.S. remains concerned about the threat of terrorist attacks against Western and Lebanese government interests in Lebanon," the State Department said in a new travel warning issued Monday.

"Groups such as al-Qaida and Jund al-Sham are present in Lebanon, and they have issued statements calling for attacks against Western interests."

Source: AP

Tags: Ahmed Fatfat, Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Hezbollah, Jund el Sham, Osama Bin Laden, Peacekeepers, Security, Terrorism, UNIFIL