US intelligence has "high confidence" Zawahiri tape authentic

WASHINGTON (AFP) - CIA analysts have concluded that a taped message attributed to al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri is authentic, a US intelligence official said.
"There is high confidence that it is him, after a technical analysis," said the official who asked not to be identified.
In the message aired by al-Jazeera television, al-Zawahiri called on young Muslims to resist the "crusader campaign," but it also alluded to the mortality of al-Qaeda's leaders.
"Young Muslims, here is our message ... if we are killed or taken prisoner, continue the path (of resistance) after us. Don't betray God and his Prophet," said the voice attributed to be Zawahiri's.
Zawahiri, the right hand man of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was last heard in a videotape broadcast by the Qatar-based news channel on September 9 in which he forecast a US defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan.