American Al Qaida militant urges attacks on Bush

Dubai: American Al Qaida militant Adam Gadahn urged Islamist militants in a new video to welcome US President George W. Bush with bombs when he visits the Middle East this week.

"Welcome him not with flowers and applause but with bombs and traps," he said in the video, which was over 50 minutes long and was posted on Islamist websites.

Gadahn also tore up his American passport as part of a symbolic protest in the nearly hour-long tape posted on the internet on Sunday.

The video comes just three days before Bush is scheduled to arrive in Israel for a trip that will also bring him to the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

In the video, Gadahn lashed out at the United States for its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and its close ties to Israel, Egypt and Pakistan, which he described as some of the "worst dictators and tyrants."

Gadahn said Al Qaida felt the need to release the statement after Washington's "defeat" in Iraq and Afghanistan and failed attempts to bring peace to the Middle East.

"This just shows once again, Al Qaida offers nothing but violence and death," said Gordon Johndroe, the spokesman for Bush's National Security Council.

Gadahn, also known as Azzam Al Amriki, was charged with treason in the US in 2006 and has a $1 million bounty for information leading to his arrest or conviction.