Al-Qaeda's deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri yesterday claimed global warming was helping militant Islamic extremism.

Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's deputy also launched an astonishing attack on Iran in a two-hour audiotape posted on an Islamic militant website.

He said global warming reflected "how criminal, brutal and greedy the Western Crusader world is, with America at the top".

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The Egyptian surgeon accused Shiite Iran of trying to discredit the Sunni al-Qaeda terror network by spreading a conspiracy theory that Israel was behind the September 11 attacks.

Al-Zawahiri said: "Iran's aim is clear - to cover up its involvement with the US in invading Muslim homes in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Comment: Apparently al-Zawahiri gets a memo with the propaganda points that he needs to feed into the consciousness of the masses of the world. The usual list includes brainwashing people into thinking that all Muslims are evil and the war on terror is justified. But since his monthly web show has proven so effective, now they asked him to propagate the official climate change explanation as well: global warming.

Next time he will help us accept that the poorest are to blame for food shortages.