Al-Qaeda Chief Urges Pakistanis to Revolt Against Government

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has called on Pakistanis to revolt against their government, treading the path of Arab Spring that rocked several Middle Eastern nations.

In a 10-minute speech posted in several jihadist forums, Osama bin Laden's successor said the Pakistani government only represented U.S. interests, alleging that Pakistan's treacherous army and bribe-taking government have plundered the national wealth, U.S. monitors who spotted the video said.

They have ruined your economy and destroyed your world as well as your hereafter. What then are you waiting for? AFP quoted Zawahiri as saying, in the video, first identified by SITE (Search for International Terrorist Entities) Intelligence Group.

Take a lead from your brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria who are standing up against oppression and oppressors with their bare chests exposed and offering sacrifices so that victory may be ordained for then, he added.

Zawahiri ruled out the release of a former USAID (United States Agency for International Development) worker Jew Warren Weinstein, who was captured in Pakistan last August.

By the grace of Allah, we, on our part, have captured the American Jew Warren Weinstein, he said. He will not return to his family, by the will of Allah, until our demands are met, which include the release of Aafia Siddiqui, Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, the family of Sheikh Osama bin Laden, and every single person arrested on allegations of links with al Qaeda and Taliban.

Though al-Qaeda was not active in the number of popular protests that toppled several governments, it has allegedly been carrying out attacks against the Syrian security personnel in the ongoing Syrian crisis against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.