Following are excerpts from an interview with Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri The interview was conducted on the 4th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and was posted on the Internet on December 7, 2005.

Interviewer: Dr. Ayman, what is the state of Qaeda Al-Jihad after four years of ferocious war against it?

Ayman Al-Zawahiri: With the grace of Allah, Qaeda Al-Jihad remains a base (qaeda) for Jihad. And for the grace of Allah and no one else, its Emir, Sheik Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect him, still leads the Jihad.

All those lies with which Bush tries to deceive the Americans – that he has eradicated half of Al-Qaeda or three-quarters of Al-Qaeda – it's all nonsense that exists only in his head. With the grace of Allah.

I proclaim to all Muslims and all mujahideen that, by the grace of Allah, Al-Qaeda is spreading, growing, and becoming stronger. By the grace of Allah, it has become a popular and pioneering organization, confronting the new Zionist-Crusader campaign, in defense of all the plundered Muslim lands, and fighting all the apostate and collaborating regimes that rule our Muslim nation.

From all Muslim countries, people join Al-Qaeda, which confronts the infidels, apostates, traitors, and collaborators, wherever they may be, with weapons, with fighting, with da'wa, and with argumentation. Allah be praised.

Interviewer: How do you view the Jihad movement in general?

Ayman Al-Zawahiri: The Jihad movement is growing and rising. It reached its peak with the two blessed raids on New York and Washington. Now it is waging a great historic battle in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and even within the Crusaders' own homes.

The latest raid on the Crusaders' homes was the blessed raid on London, which was a slap in the face to British Crusader arrogance, after the mujaheed lion of Islam, Sheik Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect him, had offered the peoples of the West a truce, if they leave the countries of Islam, but their arrogance drove them to crime, and their conceited foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said that these proposals should be treated with contempt. So let them pay the price of their government's filth and arrogance.

Whoever attacks us – with the held of Allah, we cut off his hand, and whoever acts with insolence towards us will pay the price of his filth.

The Crusader West had decided to follow Bush and Blair in their aggression against the Muslims. So they should pay the price for this aggression. They should endure it, because the war is still in its first skirmishes.

Interviewer: How do you view the situation in Afghanistan?

Ayman Al-Zawahiri: In Afghanistan, America is being dragged to the same abyss in which the USSR fell, but much faster. America is keeping most of its casualties in Afghanistan secret, although the simple media of the mujahideen exposes their lies, and publicizes their casualties. America will leave Afghanistan, Allah willing, just like the Soviets, and Allah willing, it will be afflicted by the same disasters that afflicted the Soviet Union after it left Afghanistan.

Interviewer: Dr. Ayman, after the recent operations of the Pakistani army in north Waziristan, after the kidnapping of civilians and the killing of more than 18 women and children from the muhajireen, and after the siege on the religious schools, and the killing of their students – what is your message to the Muslim nation in Pakistan in general and to anyone with a trace of faith remaining in his heart, in the Pakistani army in particular?

Ayman Al-Zawahiri: I say to them that Pakistan is the main supporter of the Crusader campaign against Afghanistan.

Today, the Pakistani army plays the same role that the British Indian army used to play in the aggression against the Muslims in India, and in quelling the Muslim uprisings in the British colonies. Today, the Pakistani army operates as a private institution, serving the interests of Bush and Musharraf pockets the reward. The Pakistani army has abandoned the mission of defending Pakistan, and is devoting itself to killing the Muslims in Waziristan, in defense of the American army.

As for the defense of Pakistan – Musharraf has claimed that America would defend him, if the Pakistani army devotes itself to serving Bush's interests. Therefore, if this policy continues, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Pakistani army surrendering to the Indian army in Islamabad, like it has surrendered in Dhaka.

Musharraf wants a Pakistan without Islam. This is why they destroyed the Islamic schools, and they are inventing a new religion, which they composed for him in America. They call this fairy-tale "enlightened moderation."

Interviewer: More than four years have passed since America began its campaign to destroy Al-Qaeda and Taliban. So far, despite all America's capabilities and despite all the Pakistani help, America has not succeeded in capturing Mulla Muhammad Omar or Sheik Osama bin Laden may Allah protect them both. What is the reason, in your opinion?

Ayman Al-Zawahiri: The main reason is Allah's protection, which is incomprehensible to the Americans and to the materialistic Crusader West. The second reason, which stems from the first, that the Muslim masses opened their hearts and home to the mujahideen, gave them refuge and protected them, exposed their children, families, property, and homes to bombings and burning and risked being killed or captured, for the sake of Allah, in support of Islam, and in defense of the mujahideen.

Jihad for the sake of Allah is greater than any individual or organization. It is a struggle between Truth and Falsehood, until Allah inherits the earth and all who live on it. Mullah Muhammad Omar and Sheik Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect them from all evil, are merely two soldiers of Islam in the journey of Jihad, while the struggle between Truth and Falsehood transcends time.

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I call upon the mujahideen to focus their attacks on the stolen oil of the Muslims. Most of its revenue goes to the enemies of Islam, and most of what they leave is plundered by the thieves who rule our countries. This is the greatest theft in the history of humanity. The enemies of Islam are consuming this vital resource with unparalleled greed. We must stop this theft any way we can, in order to save this resource for the sake of the Muslim nation.

If the only way to repel these thieves is by killing them, they should be killed without honor.