Cairo, 24 Nov. (AKI) - Syria and Iran are happy about the existence of Al-Qaeda because its members attack their enemies for them, according to the leader of Islamic jihad in Egypt, Sayed Abdel Qader ibn Abdelaziz. Abdelaziz, also known as Doctor Fazel, makes his claims in a new book, excerpts of which are published in the Arab daily, Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

"There is no doubt that Syria and Iran are among the happiest about the existence of the Al-Qaeda organisation, because if it was not for them (Al-Qaeda), they would have to recruit people willing to blow up those who strike their interests," he said.

The book entitled, 'Memo on Exoneration', has reportedly been written in response to several attacks launched against him by Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, several months ago.

In this way, the Egyptian leader intends to refute the affirmations of Al-Zawahiri.

"The contrary is true. They are responsible for allowing the United States to enter Iraq and Afghanistan and the subsequent occupation," Fazel said. "They gave the Americans false information about their relations with Iraq and the presence of weapons of mass destruction to give them the excuse to invade the country.

"They did that only to exhaust the Americans on the battlefield even if those from Al-Qaeda have killed double the number of Iraqis than the United States."

The Islamic jihadi leader condemned the sectarian clashes in Iraq and said they had played a "destructive" impact on Muslims.

"We see how that is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and in Waziristan in Pakistan. Iran and Syria are now taking advantage of all these deaths to pave the way for whoever wants to conduct jihad in Iraq.

"Do they do it perhaps for love of the Iraqi people or their interests? Don't the top leaders of Al-Qaeda live in Iran, like the son of Bin Laden, who incite young people to fight in Iraq? Wasn't Al-Zawahiri the one who sent his brothers to fight in Egypt, paid by the Sudanese secret service?."

Elsewhere in the book Doctor Fazel said there were only three others, apart from Osama Bin Laden, who knew about preparations for the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the US.

He said Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Hafs al-Masri and a third man, who was not al-Zawahiri, knew about the attacks.

Khaled Sheikh Mohammed is considered one of the masterminds of the attacks on the World Trade Center, was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and is imprisoned in the US.

Abu Hafs al-Masri was responsible for deadly attacks in Luxor, Egypt in 1997 and was killed in a US raid in Afghanistan in 2001.

Mullah Omar, the head of the Taliban, opposed the attacks, Fazel said.