DUBAI - Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri called US President George W. Bush a lying failure for talking of progress in the war on terrorism, according to a video posted on the internet on Friday.
In the 18-minute tape posted by al Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab, the Egyptian militantleader referred to the arrest of al Qaeda figures such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
"Bush, you are a lying failure and a charlatan. It has been three-and-a-half years [since the arrests]... What happened to us? We have gained more strength and we are more insistent on martyrdom," he declared.
"Bush, O failure and liar, why don't you be courageous for once and confront your people and tell them the truth about your losses in Iraq and Afghanistan?" said Zawahri, wearing a black turban and sitting in front of a banner with Islam's statement of faith: "There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is his prophet."
A US intelligence official in Washington dismissed the video as a "typical al Qaeda propaganda stream" but said analysts were scrutinising its contents for clues that might aid US efforts to track down the militant leader.
In a second portion of the tape, apparently shot at a different location, Zawahri labelled Pope Benedict a "charlatan" because of his remarks on Islam.
"This charlatan accused Islam of being incompatible with rationality while forgetting that his own Christianity is unacceptable to a sensible mind," Zawahri said, this time wearing a white turban.
Zawahri urged Muslims to launch a holy war against proposed UN peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region.
His last video was issued on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on US cities by al Qaeda.
Zawahri and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden are believed to be hiding in tribal borders areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
