Jan 7, 2008 5:50 am US/Pacific
U.S. Al Qaeda Urges Bombs For Bush In Mideast
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
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Adam Gadahn, aka Azzam al-Amriki, delivers statement laying out al Qaeda's justifications for conducting future attacks against the US, in al Qaeda propaganda video.
AP
The FBI said Monday that U.S. intelligence agencies are reviewing a videotape in which the American spokesman for the Al Qaeda terrorist network urged its fighters to attack President Bush when he visits the Middle East later this week.
In a videotape posted on the Internet Sunday, U.S.-born Adam Gadahn also tore up his American passport as part of a symbolic protest in the nearly hour-long rhetoric-dominated tape - Al Qaeda's first message of the new year.
The release of the videotape comes just three days before Bush is scheduled to arrive in Israel for a weeklong trip that will also bring him to the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as part of his push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
"Now we direct an urgent call to our militant brothers in Muslim Palestine and the Arab peninsula ... to be ready to receive the Crusader slayer Bush in his visit to Muslim Palestine and the Arab peninsula in the beginning of January and to receive him not with flowers or clapping but with bombs and booby-trapped vehicles," Gadahn, 29, said in Arabic.
On Monday, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said that American intelligence agencies are scrutinizing Gadahn's tape for any information that might signal a threat or otherwise shed light on Al Qaeda planning.
"Any information gleaned from this tape will be shared throughout the community and any actionable leads will be followed," Kolko said. He called Gadahn's latest message "part of Al Qaeda's sustained propaganda efforts against the U.S."
National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Sunday: "This just shows once again, Al Qaeda offers nothing but violence and death. The purpose of President Bush's trip is to meet with mainstream Arab leaders and people to talk about a positive future for the region, based on hope and opportunity."
As for Gadahn's tearing up his U.S. passport, Johndroe said: "He is wanted for treason against the United States. His passport was already void."
During the rest of the 50-minute video, titled "An Invitation to Reflection and Repentance," Gadahn, who was raised in Orange County, Calif., spoke mostly in English, appearing to specifically address the American people. He said Al Qaeda felt the need to release the statement after Washington's "defeat" in Iraq and Afghanistan and failed attempts by the Bush administration to bring peace to the Middle East.
"We felt it necessary to address the American people and explain to them some of the facts about these critical and fast-moving events," said Gadahn, who wore a white-and-red headscarf and sat behind a desk with a laptop computer and coffee mug nearby.
"The first questions Americans might ask is, has America really been defeated? The answer is yes and on all fronts," he added.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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