Qaeda makes first direct claim of London bombings

‘‘In their final testament, the heroic brothers in the London attacks … provided great lessons to the Islamic nation and Muslims in Pakistan to oppose the infidels,’’ said al-Zawahri, shown wearing a white turban and speaking to an interviewer off camera.

In another tape aired on September 2, al-Zawahri, who is thought to be hiding along the rugged Afghan-Pakistani border, issued a veiled claim of responsibility for the attacks. ‘‘This blessed attack revealed the real hypocritical face of the West,’’ he said.

The latest tape was apparently made recently as he referred several times to Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, which he said were held ‘‘under the terror of the lords of war’’, an apparent reference to the country’s US-backed government.

Al-Zawahri also criticised the British government’s plans to deport firebrand cleric Abu Qatada and nine other Islamic extremists detained in Britain in the wake of the July 7 bombings.