Fugitive al Qaeda deputy urges attacks to support Gaza

(CNN) - A new statement attributed to al Qaeda's No. 2 figure, Ayman al-Zawahiri, calls on Muslims to attack Western interests in defense of the Palestinians in Gaza.

"Let us strike their interests everywhere, just as they gathered against us from everywhere, and let them know that every dollar they spend on the killing of Muslims, their will be shed blood instead in return," the speaker in the nearly 5-minute statement says.

The identity of the speaker could not be independently verified. The audio statement was posted on radical Islamist Web sites Sunday evening, and gave little indication when it was produced.

The speaker urges Muslims to take action rather than hold protests in support of the Palestinians, which he says will do no good: "If you let the people of Gaza be killed today, while you shout and demonstrate, tomorrow the events will turn around and the Crusaders and the Jews will kill you instead, and others will do nothing but shout back and demonstrate," he says.