YNET NEWS: Al-Qaeda leader says US president continuing in steps of his predecessor Bush, tells Americans to be prepared for consequences of White House's policies
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said US President Barack Obama had planted seeds for "revenge and hatred" towards the United States in the Muslim world.
"Obama and his administration have planted seeds for hatred and revenge against America," the militant leader said in a recording aired by al-Jazeera television on Wednesday.
Bin Laden said Obama was continuing in the steps of his predecessor George W. Bush and told Americans to be prepared for the consequences of the White House's policies.
The Qatar-based station did not give further details in a news flash. Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia at a start of a tour that will also take him to Egypt where he will deliver a speech to Muslims.
On Tuesday, al-Qaeda's deputy leader criticized the upcoming speech, saying it will not change the "bloody messages" the US military is sending Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His bloody messages were received and are still being received by Muslims, and they will not be concealed by public relations campaigns or by farcical visits or elegant words," said Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda's No. 2, in a new audio message posted on militant Web sites.
Al-Zawahri said the Egyptian officials who will welcome Obama are US "slaves" and have turned the country into an "international station of torture in America's war on Islam." He was likely referring to suspected Islamic militants who have been captured by the US and sent to Egypt for interrogation, a process known as rendition. >>> News agencies | Wednesday, June 03, 2009
YNET OPINION: Obama-style Orientalism
US administration’s approach sure to lead to another Mideastern clash
If Barack Obama, the “world’s policeman,” is unfamiliar with the Israeli film The Policeman, his Israeli advisor Rahm Emanuel would do well to tell him about one unforgettable scene from Ephraim Kishon’s Oscar-nominated movie: Officer Azoulay “fighting” pedestrians who fail to cross the street at crosswalks and moped drivers who park illegally – he reports to police headquarters that “everything is under control,” while terrible robberies take place right behind his back.
And now, to the moral of the story: North Korea is challenging America on the nuclear front, while Pakistan’s nukes are about to fall into hostile hands. Iran’s Ahmadinejad constantly provokes the West and threatens to eliminate Israel. Obama’s PR team is looking for a way to market the withdrawal from the divided and bleeding Iraq as an achievement of creating a new democracy, and the Taliban in Afghanistan – which was ostensibly “defeated” by the US – is suddenly alive and kicking again.
Yet despite all this, policeman Azoulay-Obama is preoccupied with the “obstacle for peace in the Middle East,” demanding that Netanyahu curb settlement activity and remove illegal outposts. In exchange for this, Obama demands that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas put an end to Palestinian incitement… If this is the innovative and creative approach promised to dwellers of the Middle East by Obama’s advisors and Mideast experts, we shall soon be longing for the bad old times.
Only four months after being sworn in, the Free World’s leader is again embarking on a predetermined American collision course. Obama chooses to walk the same path as his predecessors in the White House, while using the same terms and statements and adopting the same static and dull way of thinking.
The US, and only the US, is responsible for the fact that initiatives to advance peace in our region have reached a dead-end. For years now, various American leaders have endorsed a patronizing approach, premised on assessments which Palestinian Academician Edward Said dubbed “Orientalism” in the 1970s. Today, this approach is summed up by the statement: “Be quiet, we know what’s good for you.”
Moreover, for years now, several US secretaries of state have been held captive by several “moderate” Arab states such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, which have been demanding an American price tag for their “moderation.” This comes in the form of heavy pressure on Israel to grant gestures and concession to the Palestinians, based on the false expectation that the Palestinian will also “moderate” later on. >>> Moshe Elad | Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Col. (res.) Moshe Elad is a lecturer at the Western Galilee Academic College
THE TELEGRAPH: Osama bin Laden Tape Overshadows Barack Obama's Attempts to Engage Middle East
President Barack Obama's arrival in the Middle East to build a better US relationship with the Muslim world has been overshadowed by the release of a new tape from Osama bin Laden.
The recording emerged just as Mr Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia at the start of a Middle East tour aimed at improving ties with Middle East countries.
The al-Qaeda leader claimed United States policy had led to a campaign of "killing, fighting, bombing and destruction" in the Swat area of north-west Pakistan and Americans would "reap what the White House leaders have sown".
he release of the audio tape appeared to be timed to undermine Mr Obama's attempts to restart the Arab-Israeli peace process.
Bin Laden said: "Elderly people, children and women fled their homes and lived in tents as refugees after they have lived in dignity in their homes. Let the American people be ready to reap what the White House leaders have sown.
"Obama and his administration have sown new seeds to increase hatred and revenge on America. The number of these seeds is equal to the number of displaced people from Swat Valley." >>> By Richard Spencer in Cairo and Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, June 03, 2009
ZEIT ONLINE: Al-Qaida ruft zum Widerstand gegen Obama auf
Die Islamisten warnen vor der Kairoer Rede des US-Präsidenten an die islamische Welt mit drastischen Worten: Obama sende "blutige Botschaften"
Der Vizechef der Extremisten-Organisation al-Qaida hat die ägyptische Bevölkerung dazu aufgerufen, nicht auf die "geschliffenen Worte" von US-Präsident Barack Obama bei seiner Rede in Kairo hereinzufallen. "Ägyptens freies, gerechtes und ehrenvolles Volk: Stehe vereint vor diesem Kriminellen", sagte der gebürtige Ägypter Ajman al-Sawahri in einer Audio-Botschaft. Obamas blutige Botschaften würden nicht verdeckt durch Kampagnen in der Öffentlichkeit, theatralische Besuche oder geschliffene Worte. >>> © ZEIT ONLINE, kg, dpa, Reuters | Mittwoch, 03. Juni 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Osama bin Laden Emerges to Attack Barack Obama for ‘Antagonising Muslims’
Osama bin Laden emerged from the shadows yesterday to deliver a scathing attack on President Obama minutes after the US leader landed in Saudi Arabia to begin his landmark visit to the Middle East.
In advance of Mr Obama’s keenly awaited speech to the Islamic world in Cairo today, bin Laden accused him of “antagonising Muslims” and inflaming hatred against America by backing Pakistan’s recent crackdown on militants in the Swat Valley.
Bin Laden’s message came a day after his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, surfaced to attack the White House’s new incumbent. Middle East analysts say the two tapes indicate growing concern in al-Qaeda’s leadership about Mr Obama’s arrival on the world stage when their influence over the increasingly splintered terror network is waning.
As Mr Obama held talks with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, after landing in Riyadh, the al-Qaeda leader’s audiotape was being broadcast on news channels globally. It is his third public message this year but the first time he has used such murderous and threatening language against Mr Obama. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Thursday, June 04, 2009
