Palin accuses Obama of being friendly with terrorists

Costa Mesa: Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin accused Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday of "palling around with terrorists".

The remark was dismissed by Obama as "gutter politics" but appeared to reflect an effort by Senator John McCain's campaign to target Obama's judgment, as the Illinois senator solidifies his national lead and gains an edge in battleground states a month before the election.

It came shortly after McCain's campaign called Obama a liar and just days after both candidates urged Congress to set aside partisan politics to pass a $700 billion (Dh2,572 billion) rescue package in a bid to revive credit markets.

"There is a time when it's necessary to take the gloves off and that time is right now," Palin told thousands of supporters at a rally in a sports arena in Carson, California. Earlier at a fundraiser in Englewood, Colorado, she departed from her usual speech to question Obama's character. "Our opponent though is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough that he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," Palin said of Obama, also calling him an embarrassment.

Palin cited a New York Times story that examined Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Vietnam War-era militant Weather Underground organisation who is now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Times concluded they were not close.

Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said: "Today, the McCain-Palin team took their discredited, dishonourable campaign one desperate step further, announcing that they were going to try 'turning a page on this financial crisis' and launching more personal attacks on Senator Obama."

"Instead of offering solutions for working Americans and families struggling through a failing economy, they have offered more gutter politics and false attacks."

Investigation: Campaign in jeopardy

Governor Sarah Palin's husband plans to speak to an investigator looking into abuse-of-power allegations against the governor that could be potentially damaging to her US vice-presidential candidacy, Todd Palin's lawyer said on Saturday.

He previously refused to testify under subpoena in a separate probe.

Attorney Thomas Van Flein said he asked the investigator, Anchorage attorney Timothy Petumenos, to reserve the third week of October to interview Todd Palin, but a date has not been set because he is waiting to hear back from Petumenos.

Todd Palin refused to testify under subpoena last month in a separate investigation by the Alaska Legislature.

Petumenos is heading a parallel probe by the Alaska State Personnel Board into whether Sarah Palin acted improperly when she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan this summer.

- AP