Al-Qaeda's second in command has appeared in a new video urging unity in jihad and calling for the overthrow of "corrupt" Muslim governments.
The English translation of the video title, posted on a website used by Islamist militant groups, was "The Advice of One Concerned", and the video showed the Egyptian cleric Ayman al-Zawahri speaking in Arabic with English subtitles.
Zawahri expounded at length in the video on what he calls the corruption of the Saudi Arabian royal family, condemned Palestinian concessions to Israel and criticised the Egyptian government as an ally of the United States.
The video incorporated clips from al-Jazeera, US public television and other international news stations. At one point it invokes evidence from American journalist Bob Woodward's book on Iraq, Plan of Attack.
Zawahri condemned those who did not accept the "Islamic State of Iraq," and said that it was crucial to the revival of an Islamic caliphate.
It was unclear when Zawahri was speaking, but the video said it was produced in the Muslim lunar month, which corresponds to mid-June to mid-July.