Qaeda leader Shehri delivers audio message

   
The U.S. based SITE Monitoring Service reported on Wednesday that al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia posted an audio message online from its second man in command Saeed al-Shehri who was reported dead in Yemen last January.                      

The audio produced by AQAP's media arm Al-Malahem Foundation is attached to what said was a new photograph of Saeed al-Shehri.                         

AQAP is led by Nasser al-Wuhayshi, who reaffirmed in July 2011 the group's affiliation to Ayman al-Zawahiri, head of the al-Qaeda network since the killing of its founder, Osama bin Laden.                      

Shehri's death has been announced several times by the Yemeni authorities, the most recent one in January 24.                        

It was unclear when the latest audio message, posted on Tuesday, had been recorded.                 

Most of the message is directed against Saudi Arabia, which Shehri accuses of allowing Americans to attack "the faithful of Yemen".                     

Shehri was referring to U.S. attacks against al-Qaeda targets in Yemen claiming that there were launched from bases in Saudi Arabia.                      

Shehri has survived a number of attempts on his life carried out by Yemeni authorities.              

In the latest message, Shehri made no reference to reports of his death.                   

The Saudi leader was released from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in 2007 and headed to Saudi Arabia, to undergo a rehabilitation program.