WORLD> Asia-Pacific
Zawahri urges Pakistanis to join jihad
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-15 13:52

DUBAI: Al Qaeda's second-in-command urged Pakistanis to join jihad against the United States which he said was occupying the Asian country.

"It is the individual duty of every Muslim in Pakistan to join the Mujahedeen," Ayman al-Zawahri said in a statement posted on an Islamist website.

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"The scholars of Islam have unanimously agreed that if the infidel enemy enters a Muslim country, it is the duty of all of its inhabitants -- and when needed, their neighbours -- to mobilise for Jihad.

"The Americans are today occupying Afghanistan and Pakistan, so it is the duty of every Muslim in Pakistan to rise up to fight them."