DUBAI (Jan. 30) -- Al-Qaida's deputy leader, Ayman al- Zawahri, said he had survived a U.S. air strike targeting him in Pakistan earlier this month, in a videotape aired by Al-Jazeera television on Monday.
The video mentioned a call for a truce issued by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in an audio tape Al-Jazeera said was recorded in January.
"U.S. airplanes ... launched a raid on a village near Peshawar after Eid al-Adha in which 18 Muslim men, women and children were killed in what they call the war against terror," he said. "They said this was intended to kill myself and four brothers but now the whole world has discovered your lies..."
"I will meet my fate (death) as set by God the Almighty but if my time did not come you [President] Bush or all the powers on earth ... cannot bring it one second closer."
Zawahri appeared in the video dressed in white and speaking directly to the camera in front of a black background. The video carried English subtitles.
U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment.
Zawahri and Saudi-born bin Laden are believed to be hiding in a mountainous area on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Earlier this month, Pakistani intelligence sources said four top al-Qaida militants were believed to be killed in a U.S. airstrike which U.S. officials say was aimed at Zawahri .
The video was Zawahri 's second appearance this month. On Jan. 6, Al-Jazeera aired a video of the al-Qaida deputy leader in which he said the United States was being defeated by Muslim fighters in Iraq.
In this latest video, he again blasted the United States for saying it was gaining the upper hand against militants.
Addressing the American people, Zawahri said bin Laden had offered Bush an "honorable exit" from Iraq but "your leaders' answer was that they do not negotiate with terrorists and that they are winning the war against terrorism."
Bin Laden, in an audio tape aired by Al-Jazeera on Jan. 19, warned that al-Qaida was preparing new attacks inside the United States but said the group was open to a conditional truce with Americans. The White House dismissed his offer.
"Bush and his gang are shedding your blood and wasting your money in failing adventures and push you into a conflict that you are not fit for," he said. "American mother, if you are contacted by the Department of Defense and told that you will receive your son in a coffin, blame it on George Bush."