Brussels, 04/08/2009 (Agence Europe) - Al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri has launched a fierce attack on France over its stance against the wearing of the Islamic veil, saying that it “will pay for all its crimes”. In a video recording released on Monday 3 August by SITE, the US Islamist site monitoring centre, al-Zawahiri responds to a question on the position of French President Nicolas Sarkozy towards the wearing of the burqa, which the French President says “is not welcome” in France. “France claims to be a secular country, but its heart is full of hate for Muslims,” al-Zawahiri answers in response to a question, carried on an Islamist site, on France's opposition to the wearing of the hijab (Islamic head covering). He said that, in the course of its history, France had “supported the Jews in their efforts to take control of Palestine”, fought against the Arabs in Algeria and “provided Israel with its nuclear reactor”. “France will pay for all its crimes,” he warned. (B.C./transl.rt)