In his new audio tape he made a thinly veiled call on Pakistanis to rise up against their government over what he said was the "failure" of authorities there to provide relief to flood victims. Ayman al-Zawahiri also accused the Islamabad government of corruption. Al-Zawahiri directed his harshest criticism at Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, describing him as a "thief" too preoccupied with mending his ties with the West to care about flood victims at home.[47]