As someone familiar with Ayman al-Zawahiri’s voice, tone and his heavy Egyptian accent (he prefers to use Egyptian Arabic, rather than the classical language of the Arabian Peninsula), I am certain about the authenticity of the podcast, “Bangladesh: A Massacre behind a Wall of Silence”, which was released on January 14th and surfaced in the Bangladesh media, a month after, on February 14th.
I am very familiar with Ayman al-Zawahiri’s voice, tone, accent and style of speaking. I worked on al-Qaeda and other terrorist leaders’ audio/video podcasts at my previous work place as Professor of Security Studies at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) — a military college in Honolulu, Hawaii — for four years, 2007-2011.
An Egyptian colleague of mine (who joined our university three years back) recognized al-Zawahiri’s voice in seconds.
While some people think it is unauthentic, a young pro-Jamaati activist has already been arrested for his alleged circulation of the audio in certain blogs. Ever since the circulation of the podcast in Bangladesh, the over-polarized and politically hyperactive Bangladeshis have again been stirred up.
As rival politicians are blaming each other and their parties for their alleged involvements in the creation and/or circulation of the podcast that contains al-Zawahiri’s audiotaped vitriol against the Western “Crusaders”, and Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ruling classes for their “designs” against Islam and Muslims, the media is full of ill-informed gossips and conspiracy theories about the podcast.
Taj Hashmi
Some analysts are coming up with new theories – rather, conjectures and wild guess – questioning the authenticity of the audio or as to which political groups in Bangladesh are “responsible” for “manufacturing” it to the detriment of democracy in Bangladesh.
As far as I am concerned, the voice on that podcast is that of Ayman Al-Zawahiri’s.
Source: Bd news24