Dubai, September 29 In a new audiotape released by Al Qaeda, the group has appealed to Pakistani soldiers to ‘‘topple’’ President Pervez Musharraf or he will ‘‘hand over’’ them to the Hindus.

The tape aired by Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV channel showed bin Laden’s principal spokesman, Ayman Al-Zawahiri telling Pakistani officers and soldiers that the President would ‘‘hand you over to the Hindus and flee to enjoy his secret bank accounts’’ if India attacked their country. Al-Zawahiri also condemned Israeli PM Ariel Sharon’s recent visit to India, saying the agreements signed were ‘‘a drop in the ocean of the American-Jewish-Indian alliance against Muslims’’.

During the broadcast on Sunday, the Al Qaeda spokesman also claimed the Pakistani President was seeking to recognise israel and send troops to Iraq in a bid to gain full US approval. ‘‘Musharraf... is seeking to send Pakistani forces to Iraq so that they, rather than American soldiers, are killed and so that they kill Muslims in Iraq and enable America to control Muslim lands,’’ the tape said.

Zawahiri said that Washington would not reward Musharraf and cited Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as ‘‘a living example’’ of what happens to ‘‘traitors’’: ‘‘He gave Israel and America all that they asked for. But despite this, they are now incarcerating him in his office (in Ramallah)... And lately decided to expel him.’’ Although the CIA has described the recording as ‘‘probably authentic’’, Al Jazeera said it did not know when the tape was recorded. But the remarks were replete with references to recent events such as Sharon’s visit to India.