We want equal rights to join al-Qaeda and become suicide bombers, say women extremists

The women responded with a mixture of anger and dismay to advice from Osama bin  Laden’s right-hand man that they should keep to being housewives.

Ayman al-Zawahiri praised the wives of al Qaeda terrorists and said they must  “be ready for any service" their men might require.

But he declared that a woman’s role must be limited to looking after the homes  and children of fighters – and she should not travel to any war front without a  male guardian.

Pakistani religious students hold sticks as they chant anti-government slogans in 2007

His strong views on the subject are the result of both personal experience and religious beliefs.

His first wife and at least two of their six children were killed in a U.S. airstrike in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar in 2001.

"I say to you I have tasted the bitterness of American brutality - my favourite wife's chest was crushed by a concrete ceiling," he said.

Zawahiri insisted there were no women in al Qaeda  - ignoring the fact that women in the terror network's Iraqi branch have carried out or attempted at least 20 suicide bombings since 2003.

Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, is open about using women fighters and disagrees with Zawahiri on the matter.

At least 11 Palestinian women have launched suicide attacks in recent years.

Extremist websites have been buzzing with angry and upset women extremists complaining about Zawahiri's comments which were made in an Internet audio recording in April.

One woman calling herself Rabeebat al-Silah (Arabic for Companion of Weapons) wrote a long letter of complaint online.

"How many times have I wished I were a man," she grumbled. "When Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri said there are no women in al Qaeda, he saddened and hurt me. I felt that my heart was about to explode in my chest. I am powerless."

Another, using the pen-name Osama2001, said that Zawahiri's words "opened old wounds" and she pleaded with God to liberate women so they can participate in holy war.

A magazine catering for women who want to become al Qaeda fighters has even appeared online and carries articles on terrorist training camps for the fairer sex.

The main feature in its first issue -- which came with a bright pink cover and gold lettering - was called the "biography of a female mujahedeen."

It proclaimed,  "We will stand, covered by our veils and wrapped in our robes, weapons in hand, our children in our laps, with the Koran and the Sunna (sayings) of the Prophet of Allah directing and guiding us."