Egypt ? The deputy leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahri, told the United States it is negotiating with the wrong people in Iraq, suggesting in a video released Wednesday that his terror group was the real power broker in the country.

The terrorist chief warned that al-Qaida would keep fighting U.S. troops in the Muslim world and target Western nations in retaliation. But he also criticized rival Islamic militant groups, such as the Palestinian Hamas, for being too soft in waging “jihad” or holy war.

In his comments on Iraq, al-Zawahri appeared to suggest that Washington should be negotiating with al-Qaida over the fate of the country. The Bush administration has been reaching out to numerous players in Iraq and to allied Mideast governments in an attempt to calm escalating violence amid calls in the U.S. for a troop reduction.

“I want to tell the Republicans and the Democrats together … you are trying to negotiate with some parties to secure your withdrawal, but these parties won’t find you an exit” from Iraq, al-Zawahri said.

“It seems that you will go through a painful journey of failed negotiations until you will be forced to return to negotiate with the real powers,” he said, referring to al-Qaida’s branch in the country, which has allied with some Sunni Arab insurgent groups.