- The Washington Times - Wednesday, July 31, 2013

A leader of al Qaeda said on an Internet audio recording posted Wednesday that militants would stop at nothing to bring about the release of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and that America’s treatment of inmates who hunger strike is deplorable.

Ayman al-Zawahri said, NBC reported: “The [hunger] strike by our brother at Guantanamo unmasks the true ugly face of America. … We pledge to God that we will spare no effort to free all our prisoners.”

He listed several detainees that top al Qaeda’s concern. They were Omar Abdel Rahman, Aafia Siddiqui and Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, NBC reported.

He didn’t specify al Qaeda’s actions — but just recently, the group has claimed responsibility for springing more than 500 prisoners from jails in Iraq. Meanwhile, Taliban members said Tuesday they broke out 250 from a jail in Pakistan.

• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.

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