Translated as “holy warrior” in this AP piece. “Al-Qaida No. 2 slams France’s push to ban veils,” by Maggie Michael for Associated Press, July 28 (thanks to Maxwell):
CAIRO – Al-Qaida’s No. 2 has slammed France’s push to ban the Islamic full-face veil and urged Muslim women to be “holy warriors” in the defense of their headdress against the “secular Western crusade” in a new audio message released Wednesday on militant websites.
In the 47-minute recording, Ayman al-Zawahri said the drive by France and other European nations to ban the veil amounted to discrimination against Muslim women.
“Every single woman who defends her veil is a holy warrior … in the face of the secular Western crusade,” he said.
“France, with all its power and clout, can’t touch the head-cover of a nun, but it can assault any face-veiled woman.”
Al-Zawahri also urged Muslims in Europe to support their women in resisting the Western ban on the veil.
“We must call upon our girls, our sisters and our mothers to put on the veil. We must support them and defend them.”
France, Belgium and Spain are debating legislation that would ban the veil. Other nations in Europe too have struggled to balance national identities with growing Muslim populations with cultural practices that clash with their own. […]
And about Iraq he said:
“The Americans are leaving and the Mujahedden … are the ones staying,” he said….
And regarding the jihad attacks in the U.S. recently, he said:
“Leave our land and enjoy security in your countries,” al-Zawahri said….
However, it is more likely that if Americans did leave Islamic lands, al-Zawahiri and others would find a new pretext and continue the jihad.
And he called for jihad in Yemen:
Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, he said, was “ready to do anything to appease America.”
“Are you waiting for American soldiers to tour the streets of San’a in their tanks before you wage holy war against them?” He asked….