CAIRO, Egypt - A militant Islamic group inspired by Al-Qaida lashed out Monday against Syria's government, a day after a referendum was held on granting President Bashar Assad a second term.
Abu Jandal al-Dimashqi, the self-declared leader of Tawhid and Jihad in Syria, also accused leaders of other Arab countries of being renegades, in an audiotape posted on a Web site commonly used by Islamic militants.
"Our people in Syria, how do you accept to be ruled by the vulgar Nassiries (Alawites) ... rise up as one man to chop their legs and heads," al-Dimashqi said in the 45-minute audiotape, the authenticity of which could not be verified.
Assad is a member of the country's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. A majority of the country's population is Sunni.
Sunni Muslim extremist groups, including al-Qaida, fiercely oppose the Assad government because of its secular ideology. Assad's father, the late President Hafez Assad, crushed a Muslim fundamentalist uprising in the city of Hama in 1982. Thousands died in the violence.
"Do you think that you (Assad) will continue your new term in office? We have prepared for you a long guerrilla war," said al-Dimashqi.
Al-Dimashqi's group first became known when its leader clashed with Syrian security forces and then blew himself up on the Syrian-Lebanese border in November.
Al-Dimashqi accused all Arab leaders of being renegades in the audiotape because they resorted to non-Islamic legislation. He called on Arabs to topple them.
Results of Sunday's referendum were expected to be released Tuesday. But Assad was assured of another seven-year term in a referendum where just his name was on the ballot.