The leader of al Qaida has urged Muslims to wage holy war against the United States and Israel over a film that insulted Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

Ayman al-Zawahri praised as "honest and zealous" demonstrators who breached the US Embassy in Cairo and attackers who stormed the US "embassy" in Benghazi in violence linked to the film.

The American ambassador and three others died in the September 11 attack on the US Consulate in the Libyan city.

The amateur film "Innocence of Muslims" was made by an Egyptian-born American citizen.

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