Al Qaeda's number two leader criticized the Palestinian Hamas for agreeing to respect past agreements with Israel as part of an accord to form a national unity government, according to an audio recording broadcast Sunday by Al-Jazeera satellite channel.Ayman Al-Zawahiri's message was broadcast just minutes before the Israeli prime minister and the moderate Palestinian president ended their meeting in Jerusalem. Al-Zawahiri lashed out at Hamas over agreeing last month in the Saudi holy city of Mecca to forming a national unity government. Under that accord, the new government only agrees to "respect" past agreements, falling short of the international conditions.
Hamas and the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are under pressure to agree on the final details of the Cabinet ahead of an Arab summit later this month that is expected to relaunch an initiative for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. "Hamas has fallen in the swamp of surrender," Ayman al-Zawahiri said in the excerpts broadcast by the Qatari-based channel.