7 January 2017 12:00 am
Daily Mail/AFP/6 January 2017- Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has denounced what he said was a dishonest propaganda campaign by rival jihadist group the Islamic State against his organization, in an audio message released Thursday.
In the message found and translated by US-based watchdog the SITE Intelligence Group, the Egyptian extremist accuses IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of slandering his group.
Al-Qaeda, founded by the late Osama Bin Laden, is locked in a battle with the so-called Islamic State -- which sprang from its Iraqi faction -- for the leadership of a global jihad.
In his message, the 65-year-old Zawahiri complained that Al-Baghdadi had alleged that Al-Qaeda opposes sectarian attacks on Shiites and was prepared to work with Christian leaders.