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Undated video shows Qaeda leader reported killed | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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DUBAI, (Reuters) – Al Qaeda issued on Friday an Internet video featuring senior group leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid who was reported to have been killed last month, but it was not immediately clear when the footage was made.

The video profiled a suicide bomber who it said carried out the June 2 attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, which killed six people, as a retaliation for the publication of cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Mohammad by Danish newspapers. “We have warned previously, and we warn once more, the Crusader states which insult, mock and defame our Prophet and the Koran in their media and occupy our lands, steal our treasure, and kill our brothers that we will exact revenge at the appropriate time and place,” said Abu al-Yazid.

“The Danish embassy (attack) and prior operations is but the beginning … if you don’t end your errant ways and aggression,” the Egyptian militant leader added on the video, posted on Islamist websites.

A senior Pakistani security official said on Aug. 12 that Abu al-Yazid, also known as Abu Saeed al-Masri, was killed in clashes with Pakistani forces near the Afghan border.

The 54-minute video, entitled “The Word is the Word of the Swords” and styled as a documentary about attacks against Islam by Western “Crusader” nations and by corrupt Muslim leaders, was issued by al Qaeda’s media arm As-Sahab. The compilation was dated August 2008 although it was made up of segments recorded at various dates.

“My final message to the worshippers of the cross in Denmark is that, God permitting, this is not the first nor the last act of revenge,” the young suicide bomber said as he stood next to a small car presumably used in the attack. “Sheikh Osama bin Laden and the mujahideen will not leave you alone,” said the young man, identified as a Saudi militant.

The video showed militants preparing explosives to pack the car and said the group decided to attack the embassy when it was closed to the public to avoid killing civilians.

Abu al-Yazid, commander of al Qaeda’s operations in Afghanistan, had served time in jail with al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981.