New Delhi: Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri has released a taped message on the Internet threatening more attacks on Britain.
In the 20-minute audio, the Egyptian cleric, speaking in Arabic has also criticised Britain's decision to award author Salman Rushdie a knighthood.
The recording came just two weeks after failed bombings in London and Glasgow.
Zawahiri said Queen Elizabeth had sent a clear message to Muslims by honouring a novelist who had insulted Islam, and said the group was preparing a response.
"If you did not understand, listen, we are ready to repeat it for you," he said.
The authenticity of the tape couldn't be independently confirmed.
Rushdie was condemned to death in 1989 by Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then supreme leader, for writing The Satanic Verses, on the grounds that it was blasphemous. Rushdie's knighthood was announced last month.
Zawahiri last spoke in a July 4 video address in which he predicted the US and its allies will be defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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