Al-Qaeda Chief Says Will Try To Free Guantanamo Inmates

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri (file photo)

Al-Qaeda's leader says a hunger strike by prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba has revealed what he called the "odious" face of the United States.

An audio message purportedly recorded by Ayman al-Zawahri and posted on the Internet on July 31 says that the terror network will spare no effort to free the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, where, 80 out of 166 inmates continue to refuse to eat in a protest that began more than five months ago.

Zawahri also said that Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hizballah had been exposed as a tool of Iranian expansionism because of its involvement in the Syrian civil war on the side of government forces.

The message's authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but the message was posted on a jihadist website commonly used by Al-Qaeda.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP