Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri accused Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of “lying,” and “slandering” al-Qaeda, in a statement on Thursday.

In his video titled “Our message to our nation: We kneel only to God,” he said: “There is a campaign of vilification, intimidation and scaremongering underway. Unfortunately, among those who participated in the campaign are the lying followers of Ibrahim al-Badri (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi).”

Al-Zawahiri took over the leadership of al-Qaeda in 2011 following the assassination of Osama Bin Laden on 2 May of the same year.

He denied the IS charges that he placed his hopes in the democratically-elected Mohammed Morsi in Egypt and had no problem governing alongside Egypt.

Al-Zawahiri also criticized IS for targeting public areas under the pretext that Shias were present there.

The al-Qaeda leader stressed the need to “refrain from harming Muslims and all those that the Sharia prohibits aggression against, through bombing, killing, kidnapping or destruction of money or property.”

He also called for “saving oppressed and vulnerable Muslims or infidels who have been wronged or harmed, as well as supporting and encouraging those who assist them, even if they are non-Muslim.”

He also had some choice words for Syrian opposition groups distancing themselves from al-Qaeda so as not be labelled terrorist organizations by the US.

“It is as if the approval of the United States is the aim or means to victory in the path of jihad,” he said.

“As if al-Qaeda is being criminalized because of its hostility to the US and its corrupt helpers in our countries.

“As if the US has not been exterminating Muslims before and after the founding of al-Qaeda.”

He went on to cite a series of crimes committed by the US in which al-Qaeda has played no role, such as the deaths of 5 million Vietnamese, the dropping of the nuclear bomb on Japan and the killing of tens of thousands of Germans in Hamburg during Operation Gomorrah in 1942.

Al-Zawahiri added that the priority must be attacking the United States.

He also expressed his frustration that world and regional powers were accusing al-Qaeda of being backed by their opponents.

“These liars have accused al-Qaeda of being all kinds of agents, from claiming that we are American agents created by the US in Afghanistan during the Russian invasion to Saudi Arabia’s agents created with that country’s money.

“The Safavids (Iran) accuse us of being American and Zionist agents and keep spreading lies, alleging that the 9/11 attacks are a Zionist conspiracy and a pretext used by the US to wage war against Iran.

“Such a war has not been waged, fifteen years after the attacks. In fact, relations between Iran and the US have strengthened, creating an alliance against Muslims in Afghanistan, the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant.

“Similarly, the gatekeepers and servants of American bases in the Gulf accuse us of being Iranian agents who have been sent to protect its interests in the region.

“Finally, they warn that we are the enemies of America and that whoever supports us takes responsibility for our crimes.”

Al-Zawahiri went on to say that IS’ beliefs were “human interpretations that are fallible, not sacred.”