CAIRO, Egypt — The deputy leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, told America that it is negotiating with the wrong people in Iraq, suggesting in a video released yesterday that his group was the real power broker in the country.

Mr. Zawahri warned that Al Qaeda would keep fighting American troops in the Islamic world and target Western nations in retaliation. But he also criticized rival Islamic militant groups, such as the Palestinian Arab group Hamas, for being too soft in waging “jihad” or holy war.

“The mujahedeen will keep their weapons pointed at you until you leave our lands and cease backing our corrupt leaders,” Mr. Zawahri said, addressing Americans in excerpts of the video aired on Al-Jazeera television.

The video — which bore the logo of Al Qaeda’s broadcast production house al-Sahab — was the 14th time this year that Mr. Zawahri has issued a statement. As in previous videos, he appeared in a black turban and white robe with a rifle behind him leaning against a plain brown backdrop. He frequently wagged his finger at the camera for emphasis.

In his comments on Iraq, Mr. Zawahri appeared to suggest that Washington should be negotiating with Al Qaeda over the fate of the country. The Bush administration has been reaching out to numerous players in Iraq and to allied Middle East governments in an attempt to calm escalating violence amid calls in America 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, Mr. 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 Qaeda’s branch in the country, which has allied with some Sunni Arab insurgent groups.

But an Egyptian expert on radical Islamic groups, Diaa Rashwan, said Al Qaeda had no intention to negotiate with Washington over Iraq. Mr. Zawahri’s statement was largely rhetorical and aimed at destabilizing American opinion, he said.

In a January audiotape, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden offered a “truce” to America for unspecified conditions — the only previous suggestion of a negotiation with Washington. But Mr. Zawahri said in a later video the offer was retracted after America rejected it.