Al-Qaida leader urges holy war over prophet ..

Al-Zawahri • Audio message praises protests, killing of U.S. ambassador.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Cairo • The leader of al-Qaida has urged Muslims to wage holy war against the United States and Israel over a film that insulted Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Ayman al-Zawahri praised as "honest and zealous" demonstrators who breached the U.S Embassy in Cairo and attackers who stormed the U.S. "embassy" in Benghazi in violence linked to the film. The American ambassador and three others died in the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in the Libyan city.

The amateur film "Innocence of Muslims" was made by an Egyptian-born American citizen.

In an audio message released by al-Qaida's media arm As-Sahab and posted on militant websites early Saturday, al-Zawahri claimed Washington allowed the film's production under the pretext of freedom of expression, "but this freedom did not prevent them from torturing Muslim prisoners."

Al-Qaida leader urges holy war over prophet film