Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader paid tribute to the slain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a video Friday, describing him as "the prince of martyrs."
The video was aired on the Qatari-based TV channel Al-Jazeera.
Al-Zarqawi was "a soldier, a hero, an imam (Islamic cleric) and the prince of martyrs," Ayman al-Zawahri said, adding his death "has defined the struggle between the crusaders and Islam in Iraq."
In the video, Al-Zawahri vilified the American ambassador to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, who was born in Afghanistan. Khalilzad is "an Afghani renegade who has abandoned his religion, emigrated to America and bowed at the feet of the Zionists," al-Zawahri said.
He also attacked Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, accusing him of betraying the Islamic principles of his Dawa party. "Nouri al-Maliki, who has been selling out Islam to reach the chair of power, collaborated with the crusader invaders before and after the invasion (of Iraq)," al-Zawahri said.
