The deputy leader of the al-Qaida terror group, Ayman al-Zawahri, spoke out against early elections in the Palestinian territories, saying in a video tape broadcast on Al-Jazeera on Wednesday that elections would not lead to "liberation."

Entering the argument over Palestinian Authority Chariman Mahmoud Abbas's proposal for early elections to resolve the conflict between the Fatah and Hamas parties, al-Zawahri said the only way was armed struggle.

"Any way other than holy war, will lead us only to loss and defeat,"
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Zawahri said.

He described Abbas as "America's man in Palestine," and warned that if Palestinians accepted him as their president, it would be "the end of holy war."

"Retreating in the face of the West will not satisfy it, no matter how adept we are at maneuvring and negotiations," he added.

In what appeared to be a referrence to Abbas and his Fatah party, al-Zawahri said: "Those who are trying to liberate the Islamic territories through elections based on secular constitutions, or on decisions to hand over Palestine to the Jews, will not liberate one grain of sand of Palestine."

The internal Palestinian fighting, the worst in a decade, has escalated since Abbas called Saturday for early elections in an attempt to break a political deadlock with the Hamas government. Hamas has accused Abbas of launching a "coup."

The rival Hamas and Fatah factions withdrew their forces from the streets of Gaza City Wednesday morning, after a week of violence left sixteen militants dead and dozens others wounded.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has slammed Abbas' call for early elections as "illegal" and has accused the United States of spearheading efforts to bring down his democratically-elected government.