Al-Qaeda leader supports Syrian revolt against Assad's regime

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a video recording posted on the Internet on Sunday, urged Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments in their uprising to topple Syria's 'cancerous regime'.

In the eight-minute video, titled "Onwards, Lions of Syria" and posted on jihadist Internet forums Zawahiri criticised the Syrian regime for crimes against its citizens, and praised those rising up against the government, SITE Intelligence Group said, AFP reported.

Al-Zawahiri said that Assad’s regime has waged a bloody crackdown on an anti-regime uprising which has claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people since protests erupted in mid-March last year.

In July, Ayman al-Zawahiri urged Syrian protesters to direct their movement also against Washington and Israel, denouncing the United States as insincere in showing solidarity with them.

On Saturday,U.S. officials estimated that al-Qaeda in Iraq was behind the recent bombings that hit Damascus and Aleppo. The American reports confirm the statements by Syrian officials.

Meanwhile, the head of the Arab League observer mission to Syria, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, resigned, a source told AFP on Sunday. The Sudanese was much criticized for his reports as the Syrian opposition said he was biased to the regime.

On the ground, more than 30 Syrian army tanks were seen heading Sunday to the rebel city of Homs in which four people were killed Sunday morning, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Three people were killed in the district of Baba Amr, one of the most affected areas since the beginning of the assault a week ago.

In Aleppo city, the funerals of the victims of Friday's double attack in Aleppo were held on Sunday. These attacks, the first of its kind in the country's second city, had left at least 28 dead and over 230 injured. It is believed they were carried out by al Qaeda activists who infiltrated into Syria. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.