Tape purportedly recorded by No. 2 al-Qaida leader

CAIRO, Egypt -- An audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden's deputy in al-Qaida, aired on Arab television Friday, warned that the terror group would target Americans "in their homeland" and would drive U.S. forces from bases in the region.

The pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera broadcast excerpts from a 10-minute tape it said was recorded by Ayman al-Zawahri, the No. 2 figure in al-Qaida. The channel's editors said they received the tape earlier Friday through the mail.

The speaker on the tape, whose voice resembled al-Zawahri's, mentioned a visit to Iraq by U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz -- which took place in late October. The speaker did not mention last weekend's capture of Saddam Hussein.

The speaker also denied that the resistance U.S. troops are facing in Iraq comes from Saddam loyalists. He said the resistance fighters were "holy warriors."

"It is a real and authentic holy war of the Iraqi people," he said.

The speaker noted that two years have passed since the battle of Tora Bora, a major clash between U.S.-led forces and al-Qaida fighters in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

"Two years after Tora Bora, the American bloodshed started to increase in Iraq, and the Americans have become unable to defend themselves," he said.