DUBAI: Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, in an audio tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera on Monday, eulogised former Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud and called US President Barack Obama a criminal. Zawahri praised Mehsud for his role in mobilising fighters in the region, and challenging “the new crusaders and their agents”, in reference to the NATO forces and the Pakistani and Afghan security forces. Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan in August.