Al-Zawahri criticizes Palestinian election

Osama bin Laden's second-in-command addressed the Palestinians and their conflict with Israel in a videotape aired Wednesday.

Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri said early elections would not lead Palestinians to liberation in their conflict with Israel and that the only way was armed struggle.

"Any way other than holy war will lead us only to loss and defeat," he said.

Al-Jazeera, the Qatari-based satellite channel, broadcast a short clip of the videotape Wednesday morning, saying it would air a longer segment later.

It was the 15th time al-Qaida's No. 2 has spoken out this year.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called early elections to end the increasingly violent rivalry between his moderate Fatah party and the Islamic Hamas movement, which dominates the parliament.

"Those who are trying to liberate the Islamic territories through elections based on secular constitutions, or on decisions to hand over Palestine to the Jews, will not liberate one grain of sand of Palestine," Al-Zawahri said.

The broadcast came two days after a militant Islamic Web site announced that another message from al-Zawahri was forthcoming.

In two videos broadcast in September to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, bin Laden's deputy denounced the reinforced U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon and called President Bush a liar.