New Al-Qaeda Head Urges Libyans to Create…An Islamic State

CAIRO (The Blaze/AP) -- Osama bin Laden's successor has issued a number of warnings and recommendations to Libya's rebel fighters who overthrew Moammar Gadhafi. Aside from calling on them to set up an Islamic state, Ayman al-Zawahri also urged Algerians to revolt against their longtime president in a new Internet video posted on Wednesday.

Al-Zawahri warned Libyan revolutionaries to protect their gains against "Western plots," claiming NATO will demand they give up their Islamic faith as the country sets up a new government.

"The first thing NATO will ask you to do, is to give up your Islam and not to implement Islamic Sharia law," al-Zawahri said "They want the nonreligious and the atheists who don't accept Sharia to rule the Islamic world."

The 13-minute video entitled "And the defeats of Americans continue" was released by al-Qaida's media arm and surfaced on militant websites. It shows al-Zawahri, wearing a white robe and turban, sitting against a green backdrop. Watch it, below:

Al-Zawahri also urged Algerians to revolt against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and follow the examples of Arab uprisings that toppled the autocratic rulers in Egypt and Tunisia.

"Why don't you revolt against your tyranny, Algerian lions," al-Zawahri asked.

The Blaze reported back in June that al-Zawahri, a doctor from a prominent Egyptian family who worked with Osama bin Laden for decades, was selected to take the helm of the radical terrorist group.

Al-Qaida has long opposed the regimes of autocratic Arab leaders the terror group views as godless, corrupt and too closely allied with the United States, and has called for the establishment of Islamic rule to replace their regimes.

However, the Arab Spring uprisings have largely been driven by those calling for freedom, human rights and democracy. Still, al-Qaida leaders have been attempting to associate themselves with the movement. Their continued messaging adds fuel to fears that radical movements may work their way into fragile, post-revolutionary governments.

As we reported, al-Zawahri previously released a video marking the Sept. 11 anniversary, in which he sought to claim credit for this year’s Arab uprisings, saying the 2001 attacks on the United States paved the way for the “Arab volcano” sweeping the region a decade later. Here's another video he released earlier this year:

In the most recent video, al-Zawahri also praised an August militant attack in southern Israel, when gunmen crossed from Egypt and killed eight Israelis near a Red Sea resort.