MADRID – Ayman al Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, has reiterated radical Islamist claims to Spain’s North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla as well as to Al Andalus, the area of Spain and Portugal ruled by Muslims from the eighth century until the reconquest in the 15th century.

In an audio recording made public Friday on a website frequently used to disseminate Al Qaeda communiqués, Zawahiri said that Middle East peace talks, such as those held last month in Annapolis in the United States, will not lead Al Qaeda to put aside its historic claims in the name of Islam.

"We swear in the name of God that we will not put down our arms, we will not stop our holy war, we will not renounce our beliefs nor [our claims to] Al Andalus, Ceuta and Melilla… for a thousand conferences of Oslo, Annapolis, London and Salahadin," Zawahiri said.

[Copyright EL PAÍS, SL. 2007]

Subject: Spanish news