Al Zawahiri criticizes the international community in the video for not responding to the Myanmar massacre against the Rohingya.
“The international community has taken no concrete steps to address the problem other than light condemnation and symbolic gestures of humanitarian aid,” he said. “No sanctions have been imposed on it [the Myanmar government] and no campaign has been launched against it. No alliance has been formed to stop its crimes. The reason for this hypocrisy is simple: the victims are Muslims.”
Al Zawahiri calls on his supporters to fight for the Rohingya: “This is the way forward: to strike the interests of Myanmar and Myanmar criminals wherever we can.”
This is the first video in which an al Qaeda leader has appeared since the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
In recent months, rumors have been circulating about al Zawahiri’s death. Last night he spoke on a senior UN issue and said that member states believe he is “probably still alive and healthy”.
