The gift that goes with everything! (ap photo)
President Obama today is meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the latter’s horse farm at Jenadriyah, near Riyadh. Not long after the president touched down, a new message purportedly from Osama bin Laden surfaced on al Jazeera, accusing Obama of antagonizing Muslims.
Obama tomorrow is to deliver a speech in Cairo directed at Muslims.
“He has followed the steps of his predecessor in antagonising Muslims … and laying the foundation for long wars,” bin Laden said in a tape broadcast by Al Jazeera shortly after Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia described the new tape a sign of the al-Qaeda chief’s desperation.
“It’s an act of desperation,” Nial al-Jubeir, a Saudi information ministry official, told AFP news agency.
Reuters has an analysis from their London-based security correspondent of why the American president is making al Qaeda jumpy — including: middle name Hussein. Awaiting comment from the White House.
Update: Robert Gibbs told reporters in the Riyadh filing center:
“Obviously we have seen news reports of the message but not had an opportunity to review in its entirelty. Reports we have seen have been consistent with messages we have seen from the past from al Qaeda,” Gibbs said. “I don’t think it’s surprising al Qaeda would want to shift attention away from the president’s historic efforts and continued efforts to reach out and have an open dialogue with the Muslim world.”
