"We expect neither justice nor fairness from America,” Zawahiri

DUBAI, Aug 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A voice believed to be that of al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri vowed to take revenge if any prisoners held at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba were sentenced to death, in a tape recording broadcast Sunday, August 3 by an Arab Satellite Channel.

"America has announced that it is going to start putting Muslim prisoners on trial in military courts which could impose the death penalty. The crusaders will pay dearly for any harm that comes to the prisoners it is holding," the voice warned, according to the tape aired by Dubai-based television Al-Arabiya..

If authentic, the tape will be an evidence that Zawahiri is alive and free, in contradiction to news reports early July claiming he, along with other senior al-Qaeda officials were detained in Iran.

About 680 alleged members of al-Qaeda and Afghanistan's deposed Taliban regime are imprisoned at Guantanamo.

Originating from 42 countries, they have been held and interrogated by the United States there for up to 18 months. None of them have been charged with any crime.

Classified as "illegal combatants" by President George W. Bush, their fate is uncertain. Several groups have already been returned to their countries of origin, where the local authorities decide if they are to be released.

But hundreds more remain in Guantanamo with the prospect of facing a U.S. military tribunal, which can pass the death sentence.

"By judging them America will hold its own trial, and by condemning them it will condemn itself," said the voice on the tape, the authenticity of which could not be immediately confirmed.

"We expect neither justice nor fairness from America when it shows little interest in the principles to which it subscribes."

Anti-U.S. attacks worldwide will intensify, the voice warned. "What America has seen up until now is nothing but the first round of skirmishes. The big battle has not yet started."

The tape urged the American people to "take the initiative and follow the path of reason and wisdom before it's too late."

It also warned "all those who helped (the U.S.) arrest" the Guantanamo detainees that "they will pay the same price" as the United States, which "is not capable of defending itself, and even less of defending them".

"May each prisoner held by the infidels know that their liberation is the responsibility of all the Mujahideen and that the day of liberation is close."  

"It has set to the world an example in contempt for principles, including those in agreements it signed."  

Zawahiri is number two on the U.S. Government's Most Wanted Terrorists list - behind only Osama bin Laden himself.  

Detainees come from countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, and include at least three teenagers.

The US has proposed to try some of the men - initially six - in a controversial system of military tribunals in which defense lawyers are appointed by U.S. officials and the cases are heard by military judges.

The UK Government has been assured by Washington that two British citizens who have nominated to face the military tribunal will be spared a death sentence if found guilty, according to the BBC online news service.

However, families of the detainees and human rights activists argue that the men will not be given a fair trial.