(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-25 07:28

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri is calling on Muslims to strike Israeli and American interests to avenge Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to a new audiotape.

Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri speaks in this file video footage released April 29, 2006. Zawahri called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets to avenge Israel's raids on the Gaza Strip, in an audio tape posted on the Internet on Monday. [Agencies]

In the 4-minute tape, posted on a Web site Monday, al-Zawahri accuses Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of helping Israel in its offensive by sealing off the border between Egypt and Gaza.

He calls on Muslims to "strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all of those who participated in the attack on the Muslims," and says attacks should not be limited to areas in Israel or the Palestinian territories.

The authenticity of the tape could not be independently verified but the voice sounded like al-Zawahri's on previous tapes confirmed to have come from him. The tape also was posted on an Islamic militant Web site commonly used by al-Qaida.