Al Qaida leader scorns Obama, urges attacks on US

Cairo: Al Qaida's second-in-command urged Muslims to keep up attacks on the "criminal" United States and criticized US president-elect Barack Obama for promising to back Israel.

The US Homeland Security Department said the message by Ayman Al Zawahri, the first al Qaida comment on Obama's election, held no indications of an increased threat to the US homeland.

Zawahri also warned Obama of failure should he pursue the policies of President George W. Bush, according to an audio tape posted on Islamist websites on Wednesday.

The Egyptian militant also criticized Obama, born to a Muslim Kenyan father, for what he described as turning his back on his Muslim roots.

Zawahri attacked Obama as a "house slave," contrasting him with 1960s black American Muslim leader Malcolm X.

"You represent the direct opposite of honorable black Americans like ... Malcolm X," Zawahri said on the tape, which included video footage of Malcom X.

"The Muslim nation received with extreme bitterness your hypocritical...stance toward Israel," he said. "You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand with the enemies of Muslims."

An Obama spokeswoman in Washington said the president-elect's office was not planning to comment.

A US counterterrorism official said the message showed that Al Qaida - which masterminded the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States - was isolated but still a threat.

"The message...is remarkable chiefly as an additional sign that Al Qaida is out of touch with so much of the world," the official said.

Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Laura Keehner, asked if the message changed the department's assessment of the threat to the United States, said: "Not that I've seen. We maintain that there's no credible information to suggest there's an imminent threat against the homeland at this time."

During a visit to Israel in July, Obama assured Israel and its US Jewish supporters he was a friend who would not press for peace concessions that would compromise its security.

Hailing Israel as a "miracle," he promised staunch support and held only a low-profile meeting with Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank.

The audio recording was accompanied by visuals including a picture of Obama wearing a yarmulke.